q-.  3.'t>2- 


>V  PRINCETON,   N.  J.  $ 


Purchased   by  the    Hamill    Missionary   Fund. 


BV  2520  .M5  1900 
Merriam,  Edmund  Franklin 

1847-1930. 
A  history  of  American 

i^oo 


HISTORY   OF   AMERICAN   BAPTIST  MISSIONS 


A  HISTORY 


OF 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MISSIONS 


BY 

EDMUND  F.  MERRIAM 

EDITOR  OF 

"The  'Baptist  (Missionary  (Magazine" 

AUTHOR  OF 

'The  American  "Baptist (Missionary  Union  and  its  (Missions,"  etc. 


PHILADELPHIA 

amertcan  baptist  publication  Society 
igoo 


Copyright  1900  by  the 
American  Baptist  Publication  Society 


Jfrom  tbc  Socfctt'a  oven  press 


Go 

The  heroic  and  devoted  men 

and  women  from  the  ranks  of  American 

'Baptists  who,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  have 

left  their  native  land  and  often  in  privation  and  peril  have  given 

their  lives  to  carry  to  strange  peoples  and  to  distant 

lands  the  good  news  of  salvation  through 

a  crucified  and  risen  Redeemer 


PREFACE 


For  many  years  Prof.  William  Garnmell's  "His- 
tory of  American  Baptist  Missions,"  printed  in 
1849,  was  the  standard  and  the  only  authority  and 
storehouse  of  information  on  the  subject  accessible 
to  the  public.  Professor  Gammell  had  the  happi- 
ness to  write  when  the  work  of  American  Baptist 
missions  was  yet  limited  in  the  scope  and  number  of 
its  fields,  and  in  his  volume,  issued  only  a  few  years 
after  the  separation  of  the  Northern  and  Southern 
Baptists  in  their  missionary  work,  he  was  able  to 
consider  the  missions  as  a  unit.  Both  the  extent  and 
nature  of  the  subject  permitted  him  to  treat  his  topic 
with  a  minuteness  and  fullness  of  development  and 
literary  finish  which  have  made  his  volume  the  ad- 
miration and  delight  of  successive  generations  of 
Baptists  in  America.  It  has  never  had  a  successor, 
and  in  one  respect,  at  least,  it  can  have  no  successor, 
since  the  great  expansion  and  enlargement  of  Bap- 
tist missionary  work,  as  well  as  the  multitude  of 
divisions  into  which  it  has  separated  itself  in  the 
latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  makes  it  im- 
possible for  any  historian  to  treat  the  subject  in  the 
elaborate  manner  possible  to  Professor  Gammell 
A  history  of  American  Baptist  missions  on  the  lines 


Vlll  PREFACE 

of  his  work  would  extend  into  so  many  volumes  as 
to  be  practically  beyond  the  reach  of  the  general 
public,  even  if  the  history  were  taken  up  at  the 
point  where  he  completed  his  task.  It  has  seemed 
better,  therefore,  to  rewrite  the  history  from  the  be- 
ginning on  a  scale  which,  while  comprehensive,  must 
necessarily  be  far  less  elaborate  and  more  condensed, 
in  order  to  bring  the  entire  work  within  the  com- 
pass of  a  volume  of  readable  size. 

One  of  the  first  impressions  of  the  writer  in  be- 
ginning his  work  as  editor  of  the  "Baptist  Mission- 
ary Magazine,"  in  September,  1880,  was  the  paucity 
of  information  available  to  the  general  public  in 
regard  to  the  history  of  our  Baptist  foreign  missions. 
At  that  time  Professor  Gammell's  work  and  a  vol- 
ume of  "Missionary  Sketches,"  by  Samuel  F.  Smith, 
d.  d.,  and  a  pictorial  illustrated  volume  entitled 
"Our  Gold  Mine,"  by  Mrs.  Ada  C.  Chaplin,  were 
the  only  books  to  which  inquirers  for  information 
in  regard  to  American  Baptist  foreign  missions 
could  be  directed.  The  first  was  out  of  print  and 
so  far  past  the  date  of  publication  that  it  was  useful 
only  for  the  history  of  the  earlier  stages  of  the  mis- 
sions ;  while  the  special  purposes  for  which  the  last 
two  were  prepared, — the  first  for  "The  Examiner," 
and  the  second  for  the  "  Baptist  Missionary  Maga- 
zine,"— limited  their  scope  and  therefore  their  useful- 
ness for  the  purposes  of  general  historical  reference. 
Under  these  circumstances  the  writer  at  once  ad- 
dressed himself  to  the  task  of  preparing  some  ma- 


PREFACE  IX 

terial  which  would  quickly  supply  the  increasing 
demaud  for  information  iu  regard  to  the  history  of 
our  missious.  A  series  of  ten  pamphlets  was  begun, 
which,  continued  as  exigencies  of  regular  office  and 
editorial  work  allowed,  was  finally  completed,  cov- 
ering the  history  of  the  American  Baptist  Mission- 
ary Union  in  the  features  of  its  development  at 
home  and  abroad. 

As  arrangements  for  the  preparation  of  a  special 
history  of  the  work  of  the  Missionary  Union,  by 
Dr.  J.  N.  Murdock,  long  the  corresponding  secre- 
tary, came  to  naught,  these  ten  pamphlets  were 
bound  together  in  1897,  in  a  volume  entitled  "The 
American  Baptist  Missionary  Union  and  its  Mis- 
sions," to  serve  for  historical  reference  and  reading 
regarding  the  work  of  the  Union  pending  the  com- 
pletion of  that  full  and  elaborate  history  which  the 
importance  and  absorbing  interest  of  the  subject 
suggests  and  demands. 

Impelled  by  a  desire  to  supply  in  some  measure 
the  same  demand,  Mrs.  Sophie  Bronson  Titterington, 
daughter  of  the  venerated  missionary  in  Assam,  Dr. 
Miles  Bronson,  prepared  an  outline  sketch  entitled, 
"A  Century  of  Baptist  Foreign  Missions,"  which 
was  issued  by  the  American  Baptist  Publication 
Society,  in  1891,  and  has  done  good  service,  espe- 
cially as  a  text-book  for  classes  in  missionary  study, 
for  which  purpose  it  was  peculiarly  designed.  Rev. 
J.  "Winfred  Hervey  issued  in  1892  a  work  entitled, 
"  The  Story  of  Baptist  Missions  in  Foreign  Lands," 


X  PREFACE 

which  exhibited  a  large  amount  of  research,  and 
which  supplies  in  a  convenient  form  much  material 
on  our  missionary  history  obtained  from  volumes 
which  are  out  of  print  and  have  become  rare.  Mr. 
Hervey  is  entitled  to  credit  for  preserving  many 
features  of  the  early  Baptist  missionary  work  which 
might  otherwise  have  been  lost  sight  of,  but  his 
volume  makes  no  pretensions  to  being  an  analyzed, 
comprehensive,  and  complete  history  of  our  Baptist 
foreign  missions. 

In  the  preparation  of  the  present  volume,  the 
writer  has  not  only  made  use  of  the  before-named 
volumes,  but  also  of  many  works  on  peculiar  features 
of  our  missionary  history  which  have  been  issued, 
especially  within  the  last  few  years.  Among  the 
most  important  of  these  are,  "  The  Memoir  of 
Adoniram  Judson,"  by  Francis  Wayland,  which  is 
out  of  print,  the  place  of  which  is  supplied  by  "  The 
Life  of  Adoniram  Judson,"  by  his  son,  Edward 
Judson ;  "  Self  Support  in  Bassein,"  by  Chapin 
Howard  Carpenter ;  "  The  Story  of  a  Working 
Man's  Life,"  the  autobiography  of  Francis  Mason, 
d.  d.  ;  "A  Good  Fight,"  a  life  of  George  Dana 
Boardman,  by  Alonzo  King,  and  other  biographies 
of  missionaries  of  the  American  Baptist  Missionary 
Union  and  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention,  and 
also  the  two  large  volumes  by  Henry  A.  Tupper, 
d.  d.,  for  so  many  years  the  corresponding  secretary 
of  the  Foreign  Mission  Board  of  the  Southern  Bap- 
tist Convention,  entitled,  "  The  Foreign  Missions  of 


PREFACE  XI 

the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  "  and  "  A  Decade 
of  Foreign  Missions."  In  these  bulky  volumes  Dr. 
Tupper  has  gathered  a  large  amount  of  material  for 
the  history  of  Southern  Baptist  missions  and  has 
rendered  a  valuable  service  to  the  denomination  and 
the  religious  world.  The  jubilee  volumes  of  the 
American  Baptist  Missionary  Union  and  the  Amer- 
ican Baptist  Home  Mission  Society  have  also  been 
consulted,  as  well  as  "A  Story  of  Six  Decades/' 
covering  the  principal  features  of  the  work  of  the 
American  Baptist  Publication  Society,  by  Dr.  C.  R. 
Blackall.  Reference  to  all  these  and  other  works 
is  made  for  those  who  desire  more  full  and  detailed 
information  in  regard  to  the  special  features  of  our 
missionary  work  than  could  be  given  in  the  present 
volume.  But  the  great  treasure  house  of  original 
and  exact  information  to  which  the  writer  is  chiefly 
indebted  is  the  "Baptist  Missionary  Magazine," 
which  has  been  and  must  continue  to  be  the  stand- 
ard authority  on  the  special  and  detailed  features  of 
the  work  of  Baptist  foreign  missions  in  all  the  years 
since  their  beginning. 

The  suggestion  for  the  preparation  of  this  volume 
in  its  present  form  came  from  the  admirable  "  Dis- 
trict Baptist  History  Series,"  prepared  under  the 
auspices  of  the  American  Baptist  Publication  So- 
ciety. It  seemed  that  so  excellent  and  well-planned 
a  series  should  be  completed  by  a  history  of  Amer- 
ican Baptist  missions,  embracing  the  work  of  Amer- 
ican Baptists  outside  the  limits  of  the  United  States, 


Xll  PREFACE 

in  order  that  the  series  may  then  cover  the  entire 
work  of  the  Baptists  of  this  country  in  all  its  fea- 
tures. The  preparation  of  this  volume  is  not  de- 
signed to  supersede  the  volumes  on  special  features 
of  missionary  work  already  mentioned,  nor  those 
volumes  of  the  same  character  which  will  hereafter 
appear ;  but  it  is  hoped  that  it  may  supplement  and 
complete  the  series  above  referred  to  and  supply  a 
book  which  for  the  purposes  of  the  general  public 
shall  be  sufficiently  adequate  on  our  Baptist  mis- 
sionary work  in  foreign  lands.  It  has  been  recog- 
nized that,  within  the  limits  set  for  the  volume, 
completeness  of  detail,  especially  in  regard  to  bi- 
ographical features,  could  not  be  attained,  but  by 
grouping  the  entire  history  about  the  epochs  of 
greatest  interest  and  most  vital  importance  the  at- 
tempt has  been  made  to  supply  a  history  of  our 
missions  which  may  be  a  compendium  for  general 
use.  With  the  prayer  that  it  may  be  used  by  the 
Lord  of  the  harvest  for  arousing  a  larger  interest  in 
the  work  of  the  conversion  of  the  world  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  the  volume  is  submitted  to  the  kindest  consid- 
eration of  the  Baptists  of  America. 

E.  F.  M. 

Boston,  August  1, 1900. 


CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION 
The  Missionary  Enterprise xv 

CHAPTER  I 

American  Baptists  in  1812 1 

CHAPTER  II 
Formation  of  the  General  Missionary  Convention      9 

CHAPTER  III 
Beginnings  in  Burma 20 

CHAPTER  IV 

To  the  End  of  the  First  Burman  War 29 

CHAPTER  V 

Growth  and  Expansion 38 

CHAPTER  VI 

The  Southern  Baptist  Convention 53 

CHAPTER  VII 

The  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union 70 

CHAPTER  VIII 
The  American  Baptist  Publication  Society  ....    81 

CHAPTER  IX 
The  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society  ...    88 

CHAPTER  X 
The  American  Baptist  Free  Mission  Society   ...    91 

CHAPTER   XI 

Woman's  Baptist  Mission- a ry  Societies 95 

xiii 


XIV  CONTENTS 

CHATTER   XII 

American  Baptist  Missions  in  Burma 10:2 

CHATTER  XIII 
Baptist  Mission  Work  in  Assam 122 

CHATTER  XIV 
Baptist  Missions  in  Southern  India 132 

CHATTER  XV 

Baptist  Missions  in  Siam 152 

CHATTER  XVI 

American  Baptist  Missions  in  China 159 

CHATTER   XVII 
Baptist  Missions  in  Japan,  the  Liu  Ciiiu,  and  the 
Philippine  Islands 173 

CHATTER  XVIII 
American  Bvptist  Missions  in  Africa 182 

CHATTER  XIX 
American  Baptist  Missions  in  Europe 191 

CHAPTER  XX 
Baptist  Missions  in  South  America 203 

CHAPTER  XXI 

Baptist  Work  in  Mexico,  Cuba,  and  Porto  Rico  .  206 

CHAPTER  XXII 
Civilization  and  American  Baptist  Missions  .    .    .  213 

CHATTER  XXTII 
The  Past  and  the  Future 235 

Appendices 243 

Index 253 


INTRODUCTION 


THE    MISSIONARY    ENTERPRISE 

FROM  the  time  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  founded 
the  work  of  Christian  missions,  there  have  not 
been  wanting  in  all  ages  some  to  carry  the  glad  ti- 
dings of  salvation  to  those  who  had  not  heard.  The 
first  chosen  messengers  of  the  gospel  were  the  twelve 
apostles,  who  might  as  appropriately  have  been 
called  missionaries,  since  the  two  words  mean  ex- 
actly the  same  thing,  the  former  being  derived  from 
the  Greek  and  the  latter  from  the  Latin  word  mean- 
ing "  to  send."  Jesus  Christ  himself  gave  the  model 
and  methods  of  missionary  work  in  his  missionary 
tours  in  Galilee,  where  he  went  about  preaching  the 
good  news  of  salvation  and  healing  the  sick.  No 
advance  or  innovation  has  ever  been  able  to  supple- 
ment the  lofty  ideals  of  the  mission  of  Jesus  Christ 
himself,  which  was  characterized  by  that  highest  of 
all  commendations,  "  He  went  about  doing  good." 

After  the  death  of  Jesus  the  disciples  were  com- 
manded to  tarry  in  Jerusalem  until  they  should  be 
endued  with  power  from  on  high.  This  power  came 
on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  when  the  Holy  Spirit  de- 
scended with  mighty  influence  upon  the  disciples. 


XVI  INTRODUCTION 

The  command  which  kept  them  in  Jerusalem  then 
expired;  but  they  still  remained,  and  it  was  left  for 
persecution  to  furnish  the  first  missionary  impulse, 
which  scattered  the  disciples  from  the  eapital  city 
of  Judea  to  all  parts  of  the  then  known  world,  and 
it  is  said  of  them  that  "they  went  everywhere 
preaching  the  gospel." 

The  Holy  Spirit  was  the  first  moving  agent  in 
foreign  missions.  In  Acts  13  :  1-4  we  read:  "  Now 
there  were  in  the  church  that  was  at  Antioch  certain 
prophets  and  teachers  ;  as  Barnabas,  and  Simeon  that 
was  called  Niger,  and  Lucius  of  Cyrene,  and  Manaen, 
which  had  been  brought  up  with  Herod  thetetrarch, 
and  Saul.  As  they  ministered  to  the  Lord,  and 
fasted,  the  Holy  Ghost  said,  Separate  me  Barnabas 
and  Saul  for  the  work  whereunto  I  have  called  them. 
And  when  they  had  fasted  and  prayed,  and  laid  their 
hands  on  them,  they  sent  them  away.  So  they, 
being  sent  forth  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  departed  unto 
Seleucia ;  and  from  thence  they  sailed  to  Cyprus." 

After  hands  of  consecration  had  been  laid  upon 
Barnabas  and  Saul,  they  went  forth  to  all  parts  of 
Asia  Minor,  preaching  the  gospel  and  establishing 
churches.  As  yet,  however,  the  gospel  was  con- 
fined to  Asia  Minor.  Again  the  agency  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  was  necessary  for  the  enlargement  of  the 
work,  and  of  Paul,  when  he  essayed  to  go  to  Bi- 
thynia,  we  read,  "The  Spirit  suffered  him  not"; 
but  by  a  vision  a  man  called  him  across  the  sea 
to  Europe,  to  become  a  missionary  to  Macedonia. 


INTRODUCTION  XV1J 

The  means  for  the  extension  of  Christianity  were 
apparently  as  inadequate  then  as  now.  Beginning 
with  Jesus,  the  Carpenter  of  Nazareth,  and  his  disci- 
ples, the  humble  fishermen  of  Galilee,  the  gospel 
was  carried  into  distant  regions  by  men  unknown  to 
fame,  and  it  was  Paul,  the  prisoner,  who  became  the 
great  agent  in  the  expansion  of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  Asia,  Greece,  Italy,  and  perhaps  Spain  and 
Britain.  Of  him  we  learn  that  his  bodily  presence 
was  weak.  But  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  was 
with  him,  and  wherever  he  went  churches  were  es- 
tablished. Through  these  humble  agencies  the  re- 
ligion of  Jesus  Christ  was  extended  and  the  disciples 
mightily  multiplied,  until  within  a  little  more  than 
three  centuries  we  find  it  established  on  the  throne 
of  the  Roman  Empire  by  the  Emperor  Constantine 
in  A.  D.  311. 

The  places  chosen  for  missionary  work  are  worth 
noting.  Beginning  at  Jerusalem,  the  second  great 
center  of  Christian  labor  was  Capernaum,  the  chief 
commercial  town  in  busy,  thronging  Galilee,  on  the 
northwest  shore  of  the  Lake  of  Gennesaret,  at  the 
meeting-place  of  the  chief  commercial  highways  of 
that  day  from  Damascus,  Tyre,  and  Egypt.  After 
the  death  of  the  Lord  the  first  great  center  of  Chris- 
tian life  was  established  at  Antioch,  the  capital  and 
chief  city  of  the  East.  Here  the  disciples  were  first 
called  Christians,  the  name  being  given  as  a  term  of 
reproach,  as  indicated  by  the  Latin  ending,  "  anus, ' 
denoting  inferiority.     Next  in  order  came  Ephesus, 


XV111  INTRODUCTION 

the  greatest  port  of  Asia  Minor ;  then  Corinth,  on 
the  isthmus  of  Corinth,  and  through  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  methods  of  transportation  then  in  vogue, 
a  large  part  of  the  commerce  of  the  East  was 
obliged  to  pass.  Then  came  Alexandria,  the  great 
center  of  commerce  and  learning  in  Egypt,  and  next 
Rome,  the  capital  of  the  world.  After  the  days  of 
the  apostles  the  same  great  central  idea  of  the  propa- 
gation of  Christianity  prevailed,  and  the  most  pow- 
erful centers  of  life  and  influence  were  seized. 
Britain,  which  God  foresaw  was  to  be  the  ruling 
nation  of  the  world  and  Home's  successor,  was 
one  of  the  earliest  Christian  mission  fields.  The 
Goths,  a  virile  stock  of  Central  Europe,  soon  to  be 
mingled  with  the  Angles  to  form  the  great  Anglo- 
Saxon  race,  were  also  among  the  earliest  objects  of 
missionary  endeavor.  In  this  was  recognized  the 
great  ethnological  fact  that  mixed  races  have  always 
proved  stronger  than  a  single  stock.  For  centuries 
the  Anglo-Saxon  race  was  the  first  in  the  world,  and 
according  to  all  the  principles  of  ethnology  and  im- 
perial development,  its  power  is  to  be  merged  in  the 
great  American  race,  compounded  of  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth. 

At  the  time  when  Christianity  became  dominant 
in  the  Roman  Empire  by  the  decree  of  the  Emperor 
Constantine,  the  number  of  actual  Christians  was 
small,  being  estimated  at  about  one  in  every  one 
hundred  and  fifty  of  the  human  race,  and  though 
Christianity  has  now  attained    to  the  rule  of  the 


INTRODUCTION  XIX 

earth,  the  number  of  real  Christians  is  still  small. 
Although  the  population  of  the  earth  is  increasing 
arithmetically  faster  than  the  converts  to  Chris- 
tianity, the  latter  is  gaining  rapidly  in  a  geometrical 
ratio.  From  the  proportion  at  the  time  of  Constan- 
tine  of  one  in  every  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  the 
population  of  the  world,  there  is  now  one  nominal 
or  real  Christian  in  every  four  of  the  people  of  the 
earth. 

The  history  of  early  missions  has  largely  per- 
ished, or  is  known  only  by  incidental  references ; 
but  we  learn  that  in  the  first  great  ecumenical 
council  of  Christianity,  that  at  Nicea,  in  325, 
among  the  bishops  there  were  John  the  Persian,  the 
bishop  of  India,  and  Theophilus  the  Goth,  from 
Northern  Europe ;  and  that  in  535  there  were 
Christians  in  Persia,  on  the  Malabar  coast  of  India, 
in  Sokotra,  Ceylon,  Bactria,  as  well  as  in  all  the 
countries  about  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  in  Gaul 
and  Britain.  The  Mohammedan  conquests  swept 
away  all  Christian  churches  in  Western  Asia  and 
Northern  Africa  as  by  a  devouring  fire,  leaving  only 
a  remnant  in  Southern  India  on  the  southwest  coast, 
at  Goa. 

The  gospel  was  sent  to  Britain  and  Scotland  from 
Rome  by  unknown  messengers  before  the  time  of 
Augustine,  the  representative  of  the  Roman  Church. 
From  Scotland  this  primitive  type  of  Christianity 
was  carried  to  Ireland  by  Patricius  (Patrick),  from 
Ireland  back  to  the  Scottish  Islands,  with  head- 


XX  INTRODUCTION 

quarters  at  Iona,  by  Columba,  and  the  Iona  mission- 
aries preached  the  gospel  all  over  Western  and  Cen- 
tral Europe.  Traces  of  their  labors  are  visible  to  the 
present  day.  The  spirit  of  these  missionaries  was 
purer  than  was  that  of  those  who  came  later.  Alcuin 
of  France  "  was  determined  to  carry  on  the  publication 
of  the  divine  word  according  to  the  example  of  the 
apostles."  Anscar  said  :  "  When  I  was  asked  whether 
I  would  go  for  God's  name  among  the  heathen  to 
publish  the  gospel,  I  could  not  decline  such  a  call. 
Yes,  with  all  my  power  I  wish  to  go  hence,  and  no 
man  can  make  me  waver  in  this  resolution."  No 
missionary  of  modern  times  could  express  himself  in 
nobler  words  or  possess  a  purer  missionary  conse- 
cration and  ideal. 

It  was  the  labors  of  these  men  which,  when  the 
Mohammedan  power  was  overrunning  with  flame 
and  sword  all  the  earlier  fields  of  Christianity  in 
Western  Asia  and  Northern  Africa,  saved  Europe 
for  Christianity,  since  they  forged  the  weapons  by 
which  Charles  Mart  el  drove  back  the  Saracens 
from  Southern  France,  in  732,  and  made  possible  the 
army  of  John  Sobieski,  which  hurled  back  the  Turks 
from  Vienna  in  1683,  thus  confining  the  Moham- 
medan conquests  to  Asia  and  Africa,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Turkey  in  Europe  and  a  temporary  lease 
of  power  in  Spain. 

In  the  more  distinctive  missionary  movements  of 
Christianity,  Francis  of  Assisi  was  the  first  in  the 
line  of  medieval  Roman  Catholic  missionaries.     It 


INTRODUCTION  XXI 

was  his  aim  to  establish  colleges  for  the  training  of 
Christian  missionaries  in  connection  with  every 
large  Christian  university.  From  his  labors  sprang 
the  order  of  the  Franciscans,  by  which  monks  were 
transformed  into  missionaries.  Raymund  Lull  was 
filled  with  the  spirit  which  later  animated  William 
Carey  and  Adoniram  Judson,  and  only  lacked  a 
sympathetic  and  sustaining  church  to  found  the  era 
of  modern  missions.  He  gave  his  life  to  simple 
gospel  labors  among  the  Mohammedans,  and  died 
a  martyr  to  missions  on  the  voyage  to  his  home. 
Francis  Xavier,  the  Jesuit,  had  more  of  the  military 
than  the  purely  missionary  spirit,  but  in  his  efforts 
to  establish  the  standard  of  the  church  in  India,  in 
the  East  Indies,  in  China,  and  in  far  Japan,  he  ex- 
hibited a  devotion  to  his  ideal  worthy  of  all  praise 
and  imitation. 

Of  the  purer  missionary  movements  preceding 
the  Reformation,  John  Wycliffe,  of  England,  in- 
spired the  Lollards,  who  were  itinerating  mission- 
aries to  all  parts  of  central  and  western  Europe, 
and  was  the  predecessor  of  John  Huss  and  Jerome 
of  Prague,  who  were  the  real  pioneers  of  the  Mo- 
ravians. Of  the  leaders  of  the  Reformation, 
neither  Luther  nor  Melanchthon  were  foreign  mis- 
sionary in  spirit,  being  wholly  engaged  in  theologi- 
cal disputations  and  the  founding  of  the  Faith  of 
the  Protestant  church  upon  correct  principles ;  but 
Erasmus  wrote  a  treatise  on  "The  Art  of  Preach- 
ing," which  was  as  distinctly  missionary  in  charac- 


XXI 1  INTRODUCTION 

ter  as  the  later  "  Inquiry "  of  William  Carey. 
From  this  time  the  missionary  impulse  of  the 
Christian  churches  began  to  develop  more  strongly. 
In  the  seventeenth  century  began  the  era  of 
Christian  missions  under  the  auspices  of  temporal 
authorities.  The  Dutch  sent  missionaries  to  their 
East  India  possessions.  Peter  Heyling  went  to 
Abyssinia  in  1 632  and  translated  the  New  Testa- 
ment. In  1664  Baron  von  Welz  published  a  pam- 
phlet entitled  "  Invitation  for  a  Society  of  Jesus  to 
Promote  Christianity  and.  the  Conversion  of  Hea- 
thendom." Leaving  his  title  and  the  ease  and  com- 
forts of  home,  he  went  to  Dutch  Guiana,  where  he 
died  a  martyr  to  his  missionary  enthusiasm.  No- 
vember 29,  1705,  Bartholomew  Ziegenbalg  sailed 
for  India,  and  about  forty  years  later,  Christian 
Frederick  Schwa rz,  both  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Danish  Government,  but  with  the  object  of  spread- 
ing the  knowledge  of  Christian  truth  among  the 
people  of  Hindustan.  In  the  same  general  line, 
Christian  chaplains  and  missionaries  were  sent  out 
by  various  governments  to  their  colonial  possessions 
in  the  East  and  West  for  the  spread  of  the  truth. 
The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  was 
founded  in  England  in  1701,  but  limited  itself  to 
the  sending  out  chaplains,  some  of  whom  began  the 
work  of  Christian  missions  in  the  New  World.  The 
colonial  possessions  of  England  only  became  in- 
spired by  the  distinctively  modern  missionary  spirit 
after  the  formation  of  the  first  missionary  societies, 


INTRODUCTION  XX111 

at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century.  In  1721 
the  Danish  Missionary  Society  was  founded,  and  la- 
bored much  on  the  same  lines.  The  Moravian 
Church  began,  in  1732,  the  first  missions  to  the 
heathen  under  the  auspices  of  the  Christian 
churches  as  separated  from  the  State  authorities,  but 
they  were  still  maintained  from  the  ordinary  reve- 
nues of  the  church.  Missionaries  went  to  the  West 
Indies,  Greenland,  and,  later,  to  Africa  and  other 
parts  of  the  world.  All  these  movements  were 
leading  up  to  the  inauguration  of  the  era  of  modern 
missions,  the  distinctive  characteristic  of  which  is 
the  voluntary  organization  and  co-operation  of  Chris- 
tians for  the  sending  forth  and  support  of  mission- 
aries to  heathen  lands. 

It  was  in  1792  that  a  small  company  of  Baptist 
ministers  assembled  in  a  private  house  at  Kettering, 
England,  and  organized  the  Baptist  Missionary 
Society,  the  pioneer  of  all  modern  missionary  socie- 
ties sustained  on  the  principle  of  voluntary  contri- 
butions. The  celebrated  thirteen  pounds,  two  shil- 
lings, and  six  pence  then  subscribed  was  the  fore- 
runner of  the  millions  now  contributed  every  year 
to  missionary  societies  for  the  purpose  of  sending 
forth  missionaries  to  all  parts  of  the  world.  The 
first  missionaries  of  this  society  were  William  Carey 
and  John  Thomas,  M.  D.,  who  sailed  June  13,  1793, 
for  India.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  first  mission- 
aries to  go  forth  under  the  auspices  of  the  first  mod- 
ern missionary  society  represented  both  the  evangel- 


XXIV  INTRODUCTION 

istic  and  medical  branches  of  missionary  work.  In 
1795  was  formed  the  London  Missionary  Society, 
sustained  by  the  Independents  and  other  Noncon- 
formists of  England,  and  the  first  missionaries  were 
sent  forth  to  Tahiti  and  the  Society  Islands  of  the 
South  Seas.  The  Established  Church  of  England 
followed  in  1799  by  the  establishment  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  for  Africa  and  the  East.  Its 
purposes  are  indicated  in  its  title,  and  the  first  mis- 
sionaries were  sent  to  the  west  coast  of  Africa  in 
1804,  a  mission  at  Sierra  Leone  being  established 
in  1816  and  the  mission  in  the  ports  about  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  in  1815. 

It  is  both  surprising  and  significant  to  find  that 
the  next  step  in  the  forward  march  of  the  mission- 
ary enterprise  was  taken  in  the  new  world,  across 
the  Atlantic,  by  the  organization  in  1810  of  the 
American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions,  then  supported  by  the  Congregationalist 
and  Presbyterian  Churches  of  the  United  States. 
The  first  party  of  missionaries  sent  out  by  this  so- 
ciety established  the  Marathi  mission  in  India, 
from  which  has  sprung  the  Madura  mission  and  all 
the  work  in  India  under  this  Board.  Of  the  first 
party  sent  out  under  this  Board,  three  changed 
their  denominational  views  soon  after  their  arrival 
in  India ;  Luther  Rice  returned  to  America  to 
inform  the  Baptists  that  they  had  missionaries  in 
India  while  as  yet  they  had  no  missionary  society; 
while  Adoniram  Judson,  and  his  wife,  Ann  Hassel- 


INTRODUCTION  XXV 

tine,  after  being  tossed  about  between  India  and 
Mauritius,  fled  at  last  for  refuge  to  the  savage  and 
heathen  kingdom  of  Burma.  They  landed  July 
13,  1813,  thus  founding  the  first  Christian  mission 
in  Asia  in  an  entirely  heathen  country  and  wholly 
under  the  power  of  a  heathen  government.  From 
this  movement  sprang  the  American  Baptist  Mis- 
sionary Union,  formed  in  1814.  In  the  same  year 
the  growing  missionary  spirit  in  England  manifested 
itself  in  the  formation  of  the  Wesleyan  Missionary 
Society,  which  at  once  interested  itself  in  the  Wes- 
leyan work  in  the  West  Indies,  which  had  been 
conducted  independently  for  about  twenty-five  years, 
and  which  soon  established  an  independent  mission 
in  South  Africa. 

The  next  aggressive  missionary  society  to  be  es- 
tablished was  again  in  the  new  world,  being  the 
Methodist  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  formed  in  1819,  which  began  its  prep- 
arations for  opening  a  mission  in  Liberia,  in  West 
Africa.  In  1820,  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  the 
Basle  Evangelical  Missionary  Society  was  consti- 
tuted, an  outgrowth  of  a  movement  started  in  1815, 
and  in  1819  the  Leipsic  Evangelical  Lutheran  Mis- 
sionary Society  was  begun.  Both  of  these  societies, 
however,  confined  themselves  for  a  number  of  years 
to  the  training  of  missionaries  for  other  societies, 
and  it  was  not  until  1824  that  the  Basle  Society 
established  its  first  mission  in  Persia.  From  these 
nine  missionary  societies  have  sprung  all  the  later 


XXVI  INTRODUCTION 

missionary  organizations  and  movements.  The 
Scottish  churches  separated  from  the  London  Mis- 
sionary Society  and  organized  a  society  of  their  own 
in  1829.  By  similar  processes  of  division  and 
branching  all  the  more  than  five  hundred  missions 
and  missionary  societies  existing  at  the  close  of  the 
nineteenth  century  have  sprung  into  being. 

It  is  significant  also  to  note  that  the  fields  selected 
by  these  earlier  societies  have  supplied  the  founda- 
tion for  the  spread  of  Christian  missions  into  all 
parts  of  the  world.  The  earlier  missions  in  India 
extended  to  the  limits  of  the  widely  extended 
British  Empire  in  India,  to  the  Indo-Chinese  Pe- 
ninsula, and  to  China  and  other  parts  of  the  East. 
Early  missions  in  the  South  Seas  have  spread  until 
now,  out  of  the  multitude  of  islands  which  dot  the 
Pacific  and  Indian  Oceans,  there  are  but  few  which 
have  not  been  reached  by  the  gospel ;  while  Africa, 
its  interior  long  closed  to  the  efforts  of  Christian 
missionaries  by  natural  disadvantages  and  the  sav- 
age nature  of  its  people,  has  in  later  years  opened 
for  the  advance  of  the  Christian  hosts  who  had 
planted  themselves  at  numerous  stations  on  the  east, 
west,  and  south  coasts. 

Of  all  the  widely  extended  work  in  the  enter- 
prise of  Christian  missions  six  chief  successes,  some- 
times called  "  miracles  of  missions,"  may  be  noted  : 
the  work  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners 
for  Foreign  Missions,  by  which  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
known  better  as  Hawaii,   have  been   transformed 


INTRODUCTION  XXV11 

from  a  savage  territory  to  a  civilized  community, 
now  a  Territory  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
Entirely  similar,  and  worthy  to  be  compared  with 
this,  is  the  work  of  the  Wesleyan  Missionary  So- 
ciety in  the  Fiji  Islands,  by  which  a  people  given  to 
cruelty  and  cannibalism  of  the  worst  sort  have  been 
transformed  into  a  Christian  community,  with  a 
larger  proportion  of  the  people  attending  the  church 
services  on  the  Sabbath  than  may  be  found  in  any 
other  part  of  the  world.  With  this  may  be  ranked 
the  work  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  in  the 
Society  and  other  South  Sea  Islands,  where  life  and 
property  are  safe,  and  the  necessity  of  police  for 
protection  is  reduced  to  a  minimum,  and  a  friendly 
relationship  is  established,  not  only  among  the  peo- 
ple themselves,  but  toward  all  foreign  visitors  to 
these  beautiful  gems  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  In  Asia 
there  are  also  three  great  triumphs  of  Christian 
missions  to  be  noted  :  that  of  the  American  Baptist 
Missionary  Union  in  the  Karen  mission  in  Burma, 
whereof  five  hundred  churches  four  hundred  and  fifty 
are  wholly  self-supporting,  and  all  other  branches 
of  Christian  developmentand  education  have  attained 
a  high  state  of  advancement.  The  Karen  Baptist 
mission  in  Burma  has  been  the  chief  example  of  self- 
support,  self-dependence,  and  self-propagation  among 
Christian  missions  in  the  world  for  many  years. 
Another  great  success  in  Christian  missionary  work 
is  that  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  of  England, 
among  the  Tamil  people  of  South  India,  where  many 


XXV111  INTRODUCTION 

thousands  have  been  gathered  into  the  churches  and 
every  element  of  Christian  life  is  in  an  encouraging 
■^tate  of  growth  and  development.  The  third  great 
miracle  of  modern  missions  iu  Asia  is  that  of  the 
American  Baptist  Missionary  Union  among  the 
Telugus  of  southeastern  India.  Here  a  mission 
maintained  for  many  years  amid  the  most  discour- 
aging circumstances  has  within  twenty  years  sprung 
to  the  front  rank  of  Christian  missions  in  numbers 
and  influence.  A  larger  number  of  the  Telugus  are 
now  converts  to  the  Christian  faith  than  of  any  other 
people  known  as  heathen.  There  are  more  than 
fifty-five  thousand  members  of  Baptist  churches 
among  this  people,  and  the  great  prosperity  of  the 
mission  to  the  Telugus  has  become '  a  model  in 
missionary  methods  in  India.  The  earlier  missions 
devoted  themselves  largely  to  education,  but  the 
great  success  of  the  purely  evangelistic  methods  in 
vogue  in  the  Telugu  Baptist  mission  have  so  revolu- 
tionized missionary  sentiment  in  India  that  there  is 
not  a  mission  of  any  name  within  the  bounds  of 
British  India  which  has  not  felt  its  influence.  While 
education  and  other  missionary  methods  are  not 
neglected,  especially  in  the  development  of  the 
Christian  church,  the  main  reliance  for  the  progress 
of  the  truth  is  becoming  more  and  more  the  verbal 
proclamation  of  the  gospel,  especially  by  converts 
from  the  people  speaking  to  their  own  tribes  in  their 
own  tongues. 

From  the  simple  beginnings  of  missionary  work 


INTRODUCTION  XXIX 

in  Judea  and  Galilee  by  Jesus  Christ  and  his  hum- 
ble associates,  the  enterprise  of  Christian  missions 
has  gone  forward  until  all  the  leading  nations  of  the 
world  have  become  Christian  in  name  if  not  in  fact. 
All  laws  and  procedures  of  courts,  as  well  as  the 
conduct  of  public  affairs  in  all  important  nations  of 
the  earth,  are  founded  upon  the  Bible.  Aside  from 
the  millions  of  Christians  in  lands  not  known  as 
missionary,  the  summary  of  the  statistics  of  foreign 
missions  throughout  the  world,  prepared  by  James 
Dennis,  D.  d.,  for  the  Ecumenical  Missionary  Con- 
ference, held  in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  April, 
1900,  gives  the  figures  as  they  appear  below.1 
When  considered  with  a  view  to  the  vast  and  man- 
ifold agencies  represented  in  these  summaries  and 
the  widely  extended  work  which  they  embrace,  these 
figures  suggest  encouragement  to  every  lover  of  the 
expansion  of  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

1  Missionaries,  13, GOT  ;  native  missionary  helpers  of  all  classes, 
73,615;  principal  stations,  5,233,  with  25,580  outstations;  10,993 
churches,  with  1,289,298  communicants  and  S3,895  additions  in 
1899.  The  Sunday-schools  in  foreign  mission  fields  number  14,- 
940,  with  a  membership  of  761,684,  and  there  was  an  estimated 
Christian  population  of  4,327,283,  from  which  were  received  con- 
tributions for  Christian  work  amounting  to  §1,833,981. 


A  HISTORY 

OF 

AMERICAN   BAPTIST  MISSIONS 


CHAPTER  I 

AMERICAN    BAPTISTS    IN    1812 

THE  greatness  of  the  achievements  of  any  peo- 
ple is  determined  by  the  difficulties  under 
which  they  were  wrought  and  the  effects  which  they 
produced.  Judged  by  these  standards  the  mis- 
sionary work  of  American  Baptists  holds  a  high 
place  among  those  forces  which  have  operated  for 
the  advancement  of  the  human  race  in  civilization 
and  in  religion.  The  beginning  of  the  missions  oc- 
curred at  a  time  in  the  history  of  the  nation  ap- 
parently the  most  unpropitious  for  the  founding  of 
an  enterprise  involving  large  foreign  expenditures 
with  no  prospect  of  domestic  advantage.  The 
country  was  engaged  in  a  second  war  with  Eng- 
land. At  the  close  of  the  war  of  the  Revolu- 
tion the  independence  of  the  United  States  had 
been  recognized,  but  neither  equality  of  rights  nor 
freedom  of  action  had   been  secured.      The  mother 


I  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

country  still  claimed  and  exercised  the  right  of 
search  of  American  vessels,  the  control  of  Amer- 
ican commerce,  and  excluded  her  former  colonies 
from  many  of  the  privileges  usually  accorded  to  an 
independent  nation.  Exasperated  beyond  endur- 
ance by  the  humiliations  and  wrongs  imposed  by 
this  attitude  of  England,  the  young  and  still  feeble 
country  had  resolved  in  desperation  to  again  sub- 
mit her  cause  to  the  dread  arbitration  of  war  rather 
than  endure  longer  the  deprivation  of  those  rights 
and  privileges  which  belonged  to  her. 

Under  these  circumstances  communication  with 
foreign  countries  had  become  difficult  and  uncer- 
tain, and  there  was  every  reason  to  believe  that  the 
entire  resources  of  the  people  would  be  needed  at 
home.  The  commerce  of  New  England,  which  had 
become  prosperous,  was  in  danger  of  entire  destruc- 
tion. Even  the  integrity  of  the  new  republic  was 
seriously  threatened.  Several  of  the  States  were 
still  acting  under  their  original  charters  from  the 
kings  of  England,  and  the  sense  of  nationality  was 
as  yet  weak.  The  separate  States  viewed  with 
jealousy  any  attempt  of  Congress  to  legislate  in 
matters  which  involved  that  supreme  authority 
which  the  States  claimed  for  themselves.  But  more 
than  all,  the  perils  of  the  commerce  of  New  Eng- 
land menaced  the  unity  of  the  nation.  Massachu- 
setts, which  had  been  the  foremost  in  spirit  and  in 
arms  in  beginning  the  war  of  the  Revolution, 
viewed  with  alarm   the  loss  of  her  foreign  trade. 


AMERICAN    BAPTISTS    IX     1812  3 

While,  therefore,  the  rest  of  the  country  was  hot 

with  resentment  against  the  arrogant  assumptions  of 
England,  in  New  England  the  love  of  gain  smoth- 
ered for  a  time  the  fires  of  patriotism.  The  intense 
feeling  which  culminated  in  the  famous  "  Hartford « 
Convention  "  augured  ill  for  the  harmony  and  en-' 
thusiasm  of  the  people  and  the  success  of  the 
weaker  nation  in  its  resistance  to  the  aggressions  of 
a  vastly  superior  power. 

Neither  was  the  condition  of  the  people  in 
the  United  States  such  as  to  encourage  extensive 
plans  of  benevolence  for  the  benefit  of  outside  na- 
tions. Almost  every  existing  branch  of  industry 
was  in  a  formative  state,  and  many  lines  of  mining, 
manufacture,  and  trade  which  were  to  contribute  so 
largely  to  the  enormous  future  development  of  the 
country,  had  not  been  started  or  even  projected. 
Internal  communication  was  generally  slow,  diffi- 
cult, and  expensive.  A  striking  illustration  of  the 
condition  of  the  country  in  1812,  is  the  fact  that  at 
that  time  the  "  Baptist  Missionary  Magazine  "  was 
compelled  to  decline  subscriptions  from  the  South 
since  the  mail  service  Avns  so  imperfect  that  copies 
could  not  be  delivered  with  certainty  and  regu- 
larity. Processes  of  manufacture  were  rude,  and 
profitable  lines  of  business  were  few.  Up  to  1830 
only  three  men  in  the  whole  country  were  reckoned 
as  millionaires,  John  Jacob  Astor,  of  New  York, 
Stephen  Girard,  of  Philadelphia,  and  William  Gray, 
of  Boston,  and  the  distance  which  separated  these 


4  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

men  of  fortune  from  the  general  condition  of  the 
people  was  greater  than  is  known  at  the  present 
time.  As  a  whole,  the  people  were  poor,  and  with- 
out the  resources  or  the  opportunities  of  financial 
accumulation  which  exist  in  more  modern  life. 

Among  the  people  of  the  United  States  in  1812 
the  Baptists  occupied  a  humble  position.  The  so- 
cial prestige  of  founders  of  the  State  enjoyed  by  the 
Congregationalists  in  Massachusetts,  by  the  Dutch 
churches  in  New  York,  by  the  Friends  in  Penn- 
sylvania, and  by  the  Episcopalians  in  Virginia,  be- 
longed to  Baptists  only  in  the  small  State  of  Rhode 
Island ;  and  even  here  they  were  torn  by  divisions 
on  minor  points,  remnants  of  which  remain  to  the 
present  day.  Their  homes  were  bare  of  most  of 
the  comforts  of  modern  life.  The  large  living 
room,  dining  room,  and  kitchen,  all  in  one,  with 
unplastered  walls,  contained  only  plain  furnishings 
of  strong  but  simple  make.  Stoves  were  rare  and 
the  great  fireplaces,  liberally  fed  with  wood,  cooked 
the  food  and  supplied  the  heat  which  had  the  pecu- 
liar and  unpleasant  quality  of  warming  only  one 
side  at  a  time.  In  the  sombre  and  seldom  used 
"  front  room  "  of  the  better  class  of  homes  might 
be  found  a  stiff  and  straight-backed  sofa,  uphol- 
stered in  black  haircloth,  the  only  sign  of  luxury, 
unless  the  great  four-post  canopied  bedsteads,  with 
their  mountains  of  monster  feather  beds,  the  pride 
of  the  housekeeper's  heart,  be  excepted.  These, 
however,  were  reserved  for   "  company "   and   the 


AMERICAN    BAPTISTS    IX    1812  5 

more  mature  members  of  the  family,  while  the  boys 
and  girls  were  assigned  to  the  attics,  guiltless  of 
heating  arrangements  even  in  the  coldest  weather. 
Many  a  crack  furnished  a  whistle  for  the  roaring 
winds  of  winter  and  admitted  the  drifting  snow  to 
test  the  courage  and  endurance  of  the  hardy  inmates. 

The  churches  of  these  people,  like  their  homes, 
were  bare  of  comforts,  with  straight-backed  pews 
and  narrow,  uncushioned  seats.  No  heat  was  pro- 
vided except  that  which  the  worshipers  carried  in 
their  own  sturdy  physique  and  warm  hearts,  or  in 
the  case  of  the  elderly  matrons,  individual  foot- 
warmers,  fed  with  coals  from  the  fires  at  home. 
Multitudes  of  the  churches  of  our  fathers  lacked 
even  a  house  in  which  to  worship  God,  and  they 
held  their  meetings  in  schoolhouses  or  in  the  homes 
of  the  people.  Many  of  the  powerful  movements 
which  characterized  the  early  history  of  Baptists  in 
this  country  and  which  were  the  foundations  of  the 
present  great  prosperity,  began  and  wrere  carried  on 
to  the  glory  of  God  without  houses  of  worship,  in- 
quiry rooms,  an  organ,  or  other  accompaniments 
considered  necessary  to  the  success  of  a  modern  re- 
vival. 

Nevertheless,  amid  these  apparently  rigorous  con- 
ditions the  Baptists  thrived  and  grew.  In  this 
year  of  1812  they  numbered  in  the  States  which 
then  formed  the  Union,  two  thousand  four  hundred 
and  seventeen  churches,  one  thousand  nine  hundred 
and  sixteen  ministers,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty- 


6  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

eight  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifteen  members; 
and  Benedict,  the  Baptist  historian,  after  extensive 
travel  among  them,  writes  that  "  the  Baptists  are 
scattered  in  every  part  of  the  United  States.  Scarce- 
ly a  mountain  or  valley  in  which  they  are  not  to 
be  found."  He  estimated  them  to  form  one-fifth 
of  the  population  of  the  whole  country.  They  were 
scattered,  however,  and  also  divided.  The  Baptist 
churches  of  different  sections  of  the  country  had 
little  communication  with  each  other.  Few  com- 
mon bonds  of  interest  existed,  and  no  general  or- 
ganization for  any  purpose  whatever.  The  Phila- 
delphia Association  had  been  definitely  organized  as 
early  as  1707,  followed  by  the  Charleston  Associa- 
tion in  1751,  the  Sandy  Creek  Association,  of  North 
Carolina,  in  1758,  and  others  in  the  South  still 
later.  The  Warren  Association  of  churches  in 
Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts  was  formed  in 
1767,  and  four  Associations  in  Vermont  before 
1796,  but  it  was  not  until  1812  that  the  Boston 
Association,  later  divided  into  four,  was  established. 
The  formation  of  the  English  Baptist  Missionary 
Society  in  Kettering,  England,  in  1792,  and  the 
early  movements,  trials,  and  successes  of  the  Eng- 
lish Baptist  mission  in  India,  were  viewed  with  deep 
interest  by  many  Baptists  in  this  country,  and  did 
much  to  arouse  a  missionary  spirit  among  them. 
Several  Baptist  ministers  of  this  country,  notably 
Rev.  John  Williams,  of  New  York,  and  Rev. 
Thomas  Baldwin,  of  Boston,   maintained  a  regular 


AMERICAN    BAPTISTS    IN    1812  7 

correspondence  with  William  Carey  and  his  asso- 
ciates of  Serampore,  and  contributions  for  the  Ser- 
ampore  mission  were  sent  from  the  Baptists  of  the 
United  States  to  the  missionary  society  in  London, 
amounting  in  one  year  to  as  much  as  six  thousand 
dollars.  The  first  crystallization  of  the  missionary 
spirit  was  in  the  organization  of  the  Massachusetts 
Baptist  Missionary  Society,  which  held  its  first 
meeting  in  Boston,  May  26,  1802.  The  object  of 
this  pioneer  Baptist  missionary  society  of  America 
was  stated  to  be,  "  To  furnish  occasional  preaching 
and  to  promote  a  knowledge  of  evangelistic  truth 
in  the  new  settlements  within  these  United  States,  or 
farther,  if  circumstances  should  render  it  proper." 
This  society  immediately  began  the  publication 
of  the  "  Massachusetts  Baptist  Missionary  Mag- 
azine," the  first  number  being  issued  in  Septem- 
ber, 1803.  In  1817  the  name  of  this  oldest  of 
American  Baptist  periodicals  was  changed  to  the 
"  American  Baptist  Magazine,"  and  again,  in  1836, 
to  the  "  Baptist  Missionary  Magazine,"  under  which 
title  it  still  continues.  Letters  from  William  Carey, 
and  other  missionaries  in  India,  frequently  appeared 
in  this  magazine,  which  became  the  chief  instru- 
ment in  fostering  the  rising  enthusiasm  for  missions 
among  American  Baptists.  This  zeal  for  the  ex- 
tension of  the  kingdom  of  the  Redeemer  found  ex- 
pression in  a  rapid  succession  of  missionary  societies 
organized  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  A  Bap- 
tist Youths'  Missionary  Society,  formed  in  the  city 


8  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

of  New  York,  July  23,  1806,  was  the  first  Baptist 
young  people's  society  of  America.  The  Female 
Mite  Society,  started  in  Providence,  II.  I.,  in  1808, 
was  the  pioneer  woman's  Baptist  missionary  so- 
ciety. Other  organizations  of  a  character  similar 
to  these  three  pioneer  societies  quickly  followed. 
At  the  meeting  of  the  New  York  Baptist  Associa- 
tion, in  1806,  a  missionary  society  was  established, 
and  in  1808  this  society  united  with  that  in  Massa- 
chusetts in  the  support  of  a  mission  to  the  Tusca- 
rora  Indians.  The  Philadelphia  Baptist  Mission- 
ary Society  was  also  formed  in  1806,  and  missions 
were  started  by  various  Baptist  Associations  in 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia  without  the  formation 
of  special  societies.  The  first  strictly  foreign  mis- 
sionary society  of  American  Baptists  was  the  Salem 
Bible  Translation  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society, 
organized  at  Salem,  Massachusetts,  in  1812,  for  the 
purpose  of  aiding  in  the  translation  of  the  Bible 
then  being  made  at  Serampore,  India,  by  William 
Carey  and  his  companions,  or,  "if  deemed  feasible, 
to  assist  in  sending  a  missionary  or  missionaries 
from  this  country  to  India." 


CHAPTER  II 

FORMATION    OF    THE    GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CON- 
VENTION 

SUCH  were  the  people  and  such  their  condition 
when  the  call  came  for  American  Baptists  to 
arise  and  enter  independently  into  the  work  of 
preaching  the  gospel  in  distant  lands  and  to  un- 
known peoples.  But  if  the  circumstances  of  the 
people  were  unpromising,  the  nature  of  the  call  was 
so  singular  and  so  significant  with  divine  meaning 
that  it  roused  the  scattered  and  separated  Baptists 
of  America  as  the  trumpet  peal  of  the  archangel 
calling:  the  dead  to  life. 

In  1810  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners 
for  Foreign  Missions  had  been  formed  in  Boston,  in 
response  to  the  demand  of  a  few  students  in  An- 
dover  Theological  Seminary  that  they  be  sent  on  a 
mission  to  the  heathen.  It  was  the  first  independ- 
ent American  movement  in  foreign  missions.  After 
a  preliminary,  but  providentially  unsuccessful,  at- 
tempt to  become  auxiliary  to  the  London  Missionary 
Society,  nine  missionaries  had  sailed  from  America 
for  India,  in  the  month  of  February,  1812,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  American  Board,  to  inaugurate  the 
enterprise  of  American  foreign  missions.    Adoniram 

9 


10  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

Judson  and  Ann  Hasseltine,  his  wife,  and  Samuel 
Xewell  and  Harriet,  his  wife,  sailed  from  Salem, 
Mass.,  on  the  nineteenth,  while  on  the  twenty-fourth 
Gordon  Hall  and  Samuel  Nott,  with  their  wives,  and 
Luther  Rice,  sailed  from  Philadelphia.  The  facil- 
ities for  rapid  transit  known  to  more  modern  times 
were  lacking,  and  the  long  voyage  of  four  to  six 
months  to  India  by  way  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
afforded  ample  time  for  study  and  serious  reflection 
upon  the  new  and  daring  enterprise  on  which  they 
had  entered.  The  thoughts  of  two  of  the  young 
men  turned  in  the  same  direction.  Judson  on  the 
"  Caravan/'  and  Rice  on  the  "  Harmony,"  remem- 
bered that  they  would  be  called  upon  to  lead  the 
converts,  whom  by  the  favor  of  God  they  hoped  to 
win,  into  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  Christianity, 
and  if  churches  should  be  gathered,  to  see  that  they 
were  established  on  correct  foundations.  They  ac- 
cordingly addressed  themselves  to  more  careful  study 
of  the  true  source  of  knowledge  in  these  matters,  the 
word  of  God. 

It  is  related  of  Judson,  that  during  his  course  of 
study  at  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  in  a  dis- 
cussion concerning  baptism,  the  professor  had  ap- 
pointed him  to  present  the  views  of  the  Baptists.  He 
entered  into  the  discussion  with  such  zeal  for  victory 
that  he  convinced  himself  of  the  truth  of  the  Baptist 
position.  But  the  astute  professor  immediately  as- 
signed to  him  the  duty  of  answering  his  own  argu- 
ments, and  his  intense  and  ardent  nature  engaged 


FORMATION    OF    GENERAL    CONVENTION  ]  1 

in  the  task  with  such  enthusiasm  that  he  speedily 
reconverted  himself  to  Pedobaptist  views.  Appar- 
ently, however,  this  experience  had  left  an  impres- 
sion on  his  mind,  and  soon  after  reaching-  Calcutta, 
Judson,  not  now  in  polemic  controversy,  but  as  a  re- 
sult of  sincere  study  of  the  New  Testament,  adopted 
fully  the  views  of  Baptists  as  to  the  church  and  its 
ordinances.  Mrs.  Judson,  at  first  greatly  distressed 
at  the  change  in  her  husband's  views,  soon  as  a  re- 
sult of  her  independent  studies,  became  one  with  her 
husband  in  this  matter,  and  they  were  baptized  in 
Calcutta  by  Rev.  William  Ward,  September  6, 1812. 
Later  their  hearts  were  cheered  and  strengthened  by 
learning  that  Luther  Rice,  pursuing  the  same  studies 
on  the  other  vessel,  had  also  become  a  Baptist.  Mr. 
Rice  was  baptized  in  Calcutta,  November  1,  1812. 

Baptists  engaged  in  the  missions  of  other  bodies 
are  not  now  unknown,  but  in  the  state  of  denomina- 
tional feeling  existing  in  America  in  1812  such  a 
thing  was  impossible.  Mr.  Judson  therefore  wrote 
at  once  to  the  American  Board  resigning  his  connec- 
tion, and  at  the  same  time  to  Thomas  Baldwin,  d.  d., 
pastor  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church  of  Boston,  in- 
quiring if  the  Baptists  of  America  would  form  a 
society  for  foreign  missions,  and  offering  himself  as 
its  first  missionary.  It  was  also  arranged  that  Mr. 
Rice  should  return  to  America  to  interest  the  Bap- 
tists in  the  new  Baptist  missionaries  in  India.  On 
the  receipt  of  Mr.  Judson's  letter  to  Doctor  Baldwin, 
in  the  spring  of  1813,  a  society  was  at  once  formed 


12  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

in  his  home  in  Boston  called,  "  The  Baptist  Society 
for  Propagating  the  Gospel  in  India  and  other  For- 
eign Parts/'  which  assumed  the  support  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Judson.  Under  the  influence  of  Mr.  Rice's 
stirring  appeals  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society  of 
Virginia  was  formed  at  Richmond,  October  28, 
1813.  A  similar  society  was  formed  in  Philadel- 
phia, December  1,  and  the  Savannah  Baptist  So- 
ciety for  Foreign  Missions  was  organized  December 
17,  1813.  The  Baptist  Foreign  Missionary  So- 
ciety of  New  York  was  formed  February  21,  1814, 
another  in  Baltimore  at  about  the  same  time,  and 
others  in  various  parts  of  the  country  in  rapid  suc- 
cession. 

In  1814  the  principal  centers  of  Baptist  influence 
in  America  were  in  Boston,  in  Rhode  Island,  in 
Philadelphia,  and  Virginia,  South  Carolina,  and 
Georgia,  but  until  the  rise  of  the  foreign  mission 
movement  they  had  no  common  bond  of  interest. 
In  all  these  centers,  except  at  Rhode  Island,  the 
Baptists' were  overshadow-ed  by  other  bodies  which 
antedated  them  in  time  and  exceeded  them  in  num- 
bers. There  was  no  general  Baptist  society,  but  one 
Baptist  educational  institution,  now  Brown  Univer- 
sity, and  no  Baptist  periodicals  except  the  "  Baptist 
Missionary  Magazine,"  already  mentioned,  which 
was  coming  to  have  a  wide  circulation.  It  is  a 
striking  fact  that  the  influence  which  called  the 
Baptists  of  America  from  their  lowly,  unorganized 
condition,   united   and   consolidated   their   strength, 


FORMATION    OF    GENERAL   CONVENTION         13 

encouraged  them  to  more  vigorous  efforts  at  home 
as  well  as  abroad,  and  started  them  on  the  career 
which  has  given  them  power  and  standing  among 
the  foremost  religious  denominations  of  America, 
was  the  call  to  engage  in  foreign  missions. 

The  first  suggestion  for  a  general  movement  ap- 
pears to  have  been  made  at  the  meeting  of  the 
Philadelphia  Baptist  Association,  in  1813,  when  it 
was  decided  to  form  a  foreign  missionary  society, 
and  a  general  meeting  of  delegates  from  all  Baptist 
missionary  societies  was  suggested  for  the  purpose 
of  forming  a  general  committee.  As  a  result  of  this 
suggestion  there  assembled  in  Philadelphia  in  the 
following  May  the  most  representative  and  the  most 
notable  gathering  of  the  Baptists  of  America  which 
up  to  that  time  had  ever  been  brought  together. 

The  meeting  was  composed  of  twenty-six  clergy- 
men and  seven  laymen,  from  eleven  diiferent  States 
and  from  the  District  of  Columbia,  most  of  whom 
now  for  the  first  time  looked  upon  each  other's  faces. 
Their  names  were  :  Thomas  Baldwin,  d.  d.,  Rev. 
Lucius  Bolles,  A.  m.,  of  Massachusetts  ;  Rev.  Stephen 
Gano,  A.  M.,  of  Rhode  Island  ;  Rev.  John  Williams, 
Mr.  Thomas  Hewitt,  Mr.  Edward  Probvn,  Mr.  Na- 
thanael  Smith,  of  New  York  ;  Burgiss  Allison,  p.  p.. 
Rev.  Richard  Proudfoot,  Rev.  Josiah  Stratton,  Rev. 
William  Boswell,  Rev.  Henry  Smalley,  a.  m.,  Mr. 
Mathew  Randall,  Mr.  John  Sisty,  Mr.  Stephen  Us- 
tick,  of  New  Jersey  ;  William  Rogers,  P.  p.,  Henry 
Holcombe,  P.   p.,  William  Staughton,  p.   P.,   Rev. 


14  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

William  White,  a.  m.,  Rev.  John  P.  Peckworth,  Rev. 
Horatio  G.  Jones,  Rev.  Silas  Hough,  Rev.  Joseph 
Mathias,  of  Pennsylvania ;  Rev.  Daniel  Dodge,  of 
Delaware ;  Rev.  Lewis  Richards,  Rev.  Thomas 
Brooke,  of  Maryland ;  Rev.  Luther  Rice,  a.  m.,  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia ;  Rev.  Robert  B.  Scrapie,  Rev. 
Jacob  Grigg,  of  Virginia ;  Rev.  James  A.  Ranald- 
son,  of  North  Carolina ;  Richard  Furman,  d.  d., 
Hon.  Mathias  B.  Tallmadge,  of  South  Carolina ; 
and  Rev.  W.  B.  Johnson,  of  Georgia. 

Rev.  Dr.  Furman,  of  South  Carolina,  was  chosen 
president,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Baldwin,  of  Massachusetts, 
secretary,  and  the  following  constitution  was  finally 
adopted,  after  full  discussion  : 

We,  the  delegates  from  missionary  societies  and  other 
religious  bodies  of  the  Baptist  denomination,  in  various 
parts  of  the  United  States,  met  in  convention,  in  the  city 
of  Philadelphia,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  into  effect 
the  benevolent  intentions  of  our  constituents  by  organ- 
izing a  plan  for  eliciting,  combining,  and  directing  the 
energies  of  the  whole  denomination  in  one  sacred  effort 
for  sending  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  to  the  heathen 
and  to  nations  destitute  of  pure  gospel  light,  do  agree  to 
the  following  rules  as  fundamental  principles,  viz  : 

1.  That  this  body  shall  be  styled  "The  General  Mis- 
sionary Convention  of  the  Baptist  Denomination  in  the 
United  States  of  America  for  Foreign  Missions." 

2.  That  a  triennial  convention  shall,  hereafter,  be 
held,  consisting  of  delegates,  not  exceeding  two  in  num- 
ber, from  each  of  the  several  missionary  societies,  and 
other  religious  bodies  of  the  Baptist  denomination,  now 
existing,    or   which    may   hereafter   be   formed   in    the 


FORMATION  OF  GENERAL  CONVENTION    15 

United  States,  and  which  shall  each  regularly  contribute 
to  the  general  missionary  fund  a  sum  amounting  at 
least  to  one  hundred  dollars  per  annum. 

3.  That  for  the  necessary  transaction  and  dispatch  of 
business,  during  the  recess  of  said  Convention,  there 
shall  be  a  Board  of  twenty-one  commissioners,  who  shall 
be  members  of  the  said  societies,  churches,  or  other  re- 
ligious bodies  aforesaid,  triennially  appointed  by  the  said 
Convention,  by  ballot,  to  be  called  the  "Baptist  Board 
of  Foreign  Missions  for  the  United  States,"  seven  of 
whom  shall  be  a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of  all  busi- 
ness, and  which  Board  shall  continue  in  office  until  suc- 
cessors be  duly  appointed,  and  shall  have  power  to  make 
and  adopt  by-laws  for  the  government  of  the  said  Board, 
and  for  the  furtherance  of  the  general  objects  of  the  in- 
stitution. 

4.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  this  Board  to  employ 
missionaries,  and,  if  necessary,  to  take  measures  for  the 
improvement  of  their  qualifications ;  to  fix  on  the  field 
of  their  labors,  and  the  compensation  to  be  allowed 
them  for  their  services  ;  to  superintend  their  conduct, 
and  dismiss  them,  should  their  services  be  disapproved  ; 
to  publish  accounts,  from  time  to  time,  of  the  Board's 
transactions,  and  an  annual  address  to  the  public  ;  to 
call  a  special  meeting  of  the  Convention  on  any  extraor- 
dinary occasion,  and,  in  general,  to  conduct  the  execu- 
tive part  of  the  missionary  concern. 

5.  That  such  persons  only  as  are  in  full  communion  with 
some  regular  church  of  our  denomination,  and  who  fur- 
nish satisfactory  evidence  of  genuine  piety,  good  talents, 
and  fervent  zeal  for  the  Redeemer's  cause,  are  to  be  em- 
ployed as  missionaries. 

6.  That  the  Board  shall  choose,  by  ballot,  one  presi- 
dent, two  vice-presidents,  a  treasurer,  a  corresponding 
and  a  recording  secretary. 


16  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

7.  That  the  president,  or  in  case  of  his  absence  or  dis- 
ability, the  senior  vice-president  present,  shall  preside 
in  all  meetings  of  the  Board,  and  when  application 
shall  be  made  in  writing  by  any  two  of  its  members, 
shall  call  a  special  meeting  of  the  Board,  giving  due 
notice  thereof. 

8.  That  the  treasurer  shall  receive  and  faithfully  ac- 
count for  all  the  moneys  paid  into  the  treasury,  keep  a 
regular  account  of  receipts  and  disbursements,  make  a 
report  thereof  to  the  said  Convention,  whenever  it  shall 
be  in  session,  and  to  the  Board  of  Missions  annually,  and 
as  often  as  by  them  required.  He  shall  also,  before  he 
enters  on  the  duties  of  his  office,  give  competent  secu- 
rity, to  be  approved  by  the  Board,  for  the  stock  and 
funds  that  may  be  committed  to  his  care. 

9.  That  the  corresponding  secretary  shall  maintain 
intercourse  by  letter  with  such  individuals,  societies,  or 
public  bodies,  as  the  interests  of  the  institution  may  re- 
quire. Copies  of  all  the  communications  made  by  the 
particular  direction  of  the  Convention  or  Board  shall  be 
by  him  handed  to  the  recording  secretary,  for  record  and 
safe  keeping. 

10.  That  the  recording  secretary  shall,  rx-officio,  be 
the  secretary  of  the  Convention,  unless  some  other  be  by 
them  appointed  in  his  stead.  He  shall  attend  all  the 
meetings  of  the  Board,  and  keep  a  fair  record  of  all 
their  proceedings,  and  of  the  transactions  of  the  Con- 
vention. 

11.  That  in  case  of  the  death,  resignation,  or  disability 
of  any  of  its  officers  or  members,  the  Board  shall  have 
power  to  fill  such  vacancy. 

12.  That  the  said  Convention  shall  have  power,  and 
in  the  interval  of  their  meeting,  the  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners, on  the  recommendation  of  any  one  of  the  con- 
stituent bodies  belonging  to  the  Convention,  shall  also 


FORMATION    OF    GENERAL    CONVENTION  17 

have  power,  to  elect  honorary  members  of  piety  and  dis- 
tinguished liberality,  who,  on  their  election,  shall  be  en- 
titled to  a  seat,  and  to  take  part  in  the  debates  of  the 
Convention  ;  but  it  shall  be  understood  that  the  rigbt  of 
voting  shall  be  confined  to  the  delegates. 

13.  That  in  case  any  of  the  constituent  bodies  shall  be 
unable  to  send  representatives  to  the  said  Convention, 
they  shall  be  permitted  to  vote  by  proxy,  which  proxy 
shall  be  appointed  by  writing. 

14.  That  any  alterations  which  experience  may  dic- 
tate from  time  to  time,  may  be  made  in  these  articles  at 
the  regular  meeting  of  the  Convention,  by  two-thirds  of 
the  members  present. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Board  immediately  after 
the  adjournment  of  the  Convention,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Judson  were  appointed  its  first  missionaries,  and  the 
Board  pledged  itself  to  their  support  in  mission 
work  in  India.  Luther  Rice  was  also  appointed  a 
missionary,  hut  instructed  to  continue  his  services 
in  arousing  the  churches  of  this  country  to  greater 
interest  in  the  work  of  foreign  missions.  William 
Staughton,  D.  d.,  of  Philadelphia,  was  appointed  the 
first  corresponding  secretary  of  the  Board,  the  head- 
quarters of  which  were  to  be  in  Philadelphia,  and 
Mr.  John  Cauldwell,  of  New  York,  was  named  as 
the  first  treasurer.  As  communication  between  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  country  was  slow  and  difficult,  it 
was  arranged  that  the  Convention  should  meet  only 
once  in  three  years,  whence  arose  the  common  name 
by  which  the  Society  was  known  in  its  earlier  years, 
"  The  Triennial  Convention." 


18  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

Thus  was  inaugurated  the  movement  which  made 
the  scattered  and  separate  Baptists  of  America  a  de- 
nomination. The  feeling  among  them  regarding  this 
Convention  is  indicated  by  the  words  of  the  editor  of 
the  "Baptist  Missionary  Magazine,"  in  introducing 
his  account  of  the  meeting  in  Philadelphia  : 

Perhaps  no  event  has  ever  taken  place  among  the 
Baptist  denomination  in  America,  which  has  excited 
more  lively  interest  than  the  late  missionary  Convention 
held  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  It  was  indeed  a  sight 
no  less  novel  than  interesting,  to  behold  brethren  who 
had  hitherto  been  unknown  to  each  other  by  face,  col- 
lecting from  North  to  South,  from  nearly  all  the  States 
from  Massachusetts  to  Georgia  (a  distance  of  more  than 
one  thousand  miles),  for  the  important  purpose  of  form- 
ing a  General  Convention,  in  order  to  concentrate  the  en- 
ergies and  direct  the  efforts  of  the  whole  denomination 
throughout  the  United  States  in  sending  the  gospel  to 
the  heathen. 

This  high  resolve  of  the  Baptists  of  this  country 
to  engage  in  the  enterprise  of  foreign  missions  was 
further  exalted  by  the  condition  of  the  country  at 
that  time.  War  with  England  was  still  dragging  on 
its  tedious  and  exhausting  course.  Although  many 
splendid  victories  had  been  won  by  the  navy  of  the 
Americans  on  the  sea  and  on  the  great  lakes,  the 
British  were  far  from  embarrassed  by  their  reverses 
and  the  army  of  the  United  States  had  made  little 
headway  against  the  land  force  of  the  enemy.  By 
her  conflict  with  Napoleon,  England  had  been  for  a 
time  hampered  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war  with 


FORMATION    OF    GENERAL   CONVENTIOK         L9 

America  ;  but  the  victories  of  Wellington  made  it 
evident  that  his  forces  would  soon  be  released,  as 
they  were,  and  Great  Britain  be  able  to  turn  her  full 
energies  upon  the  struggling  American  republic. 
Although  the  Embargo  Act  was  repealed  in  April, 
18 14,  the  peace  party  in  New  England  continued 
vigorous  and  aggressive.  By  demanding  payment 
of  every  note  of  the  banks  in  the  Middle  and 
Southern  States,  and  by  introducing  English  bills 
in  large  quantities  and  at  low  rates,  these  portions 
of  the  country  were  drained  of  their  financial  re- 
sources, while  British  fleets  harassed  the  Southern 
coasts  and  showed  the  disposition  of  the  enemy  to 
prosecute  the  war  with  increasing  and  relentless 
vigor. 

Undaunted  by  these  unpropitious  circumstances 
American  Baptists  launched  the  bark  of  their  for- 
eign mission  enterprise  with  cheerful  courage,  trust- 
ing the  Lord,  who  had  led  them  into  the  task  by 
such  a  signal  exhibition  of  his  providence,  to  prosper 
and  bless  the  work  in  behalf  of  the  kingdom  of  his 
Son. 


CHAPTER   HI 

BEGINNINGS    IN    BURMA 

TIDINGS  of  the  action  of  American  Baptists  for 
their  support  did  not  reach  the  lonely  mission- 
aries in  India  until  more  than  a  year  after  the  for- 
mation of  the  missionary  Convention.  Driven  from 
Calcutta  by  the  hostility  of  the  English  East  India 
Company,  the  Judsons  fled  to  the  Isle  of  France 
(Mauritius) ;  then,  determined  not  to  abandon  India, 
they  went  back  to  Madras.  At  last,  in  instant  fear 
of  being  forcibly  returned  to  England,  they  em- 
barked on  an  unseaworthy  brig,  the  "  Georgiana," 
which  bore  them,  amid  many  perils,  to  Rangoon, 
in  the  then  native  empire  of  Burma,  where  they 
landed  July  13,  1813,  almost  the  only  white  per- 
sons among  that  savage  and  barbarous  people. 
Here,  for  more  than  two  years,  in  loneliness  and 
peril,  they  lived  and  labored  without  companions  of 
their  own  race.  On  September  5,  1815,  however, 
came  the  joyful  news  that  American  Baptists  had 
rallied  to  their  support  and  a  fully  organized  mis- 
sionary convention  had  adopted  them  as  its  mission- 
aries and  had  pledged  the  funds  needed  for  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  work  upon  which  they  had  entered 
at  so  much  personal  sacrifice  and  peril. 
20 


BEGINNINGS    IN    BURMA  21 

On  their  arrival  at  Rangoon,  the  Judsons  found 
a  house  occupied  by  the  wife  of  Felix  Carey,  who 
was  partly  of  native  blood,  and  here  they  made 
their  first  home  in  Burma.  This  eldest  son  of 
William  Carey  was  one  of  the  company  sent  to 
Burma  by  his  father  in  an  attempt  to  establish  a 
mission  in  that  country.  At  the  time  of  the  arrival 
of  the  Judsons,  the  English  mission  had  been  prac- 
tically  abandoned,  as  Carey,  the  only  remaining 
missionary,  had  entered  the  service  of  the  Burman 
government,  in  which  he  remained.  This  is  the 
son  of  whom  his  eminent  and  devoted  father  wrote 
to  Doctor  Ryland,  "Felix  is  shriveled  from  a  mis- 
sionary to  an  ambassador."  In  the  interval  be- 
tween their  arrival  in  Burma  and  the  opening  of 
communication  with  the  American  Baptist  Conven- 
tion, the  Judsons  were  sustained  by  the  Baptist 
mission  at  Serampore,  which  made  monthly  grants 
for  their  support,  and  they  were  recognized  for  a 
time  as  members  of  the  English  Baptist  mission. 

In  1813,  Burma  furnished  a  typical  example  of 
savage  and  cruel  Oriental  governments  and  peoples. 
The  will  of  the  king  was  the  only  and  the  absolute 
law.  Every  officer  was  a  despot  in  his  sphere  and 
the  slave  of  his  superiors.  The  people,  in  person 
and  property,  were  subject  to  the  will  and  the 
caprice  of  the  officers  of  the  king.  By  his  medical 
skill,  Felix  Carey  had  secured  the  favor  of  the 
viceroy  at  Rangoon  and  obtained  from  the  king 
permission  that  the  Bible  might  be  translated  into 


22  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

the  Burman  language.  Under  these  partially  favor- 
able conditions  the  new  missionaries  began  their 
labors,  and  Mr.  Jndson  applied  himself  to  the  study 
of  the  language  with  all  his  native  intensity  of 
application  and  great  mental  powers.  His  aids 
were  few.  Dr.  Felix  Carey  had  made  some  begin- 
nings of  literary  work,  but,  for  the  most  part,  Mr. 
Jndson  was  compelled  to  prepare  his  own  dictionary 
and  grammar  as  he  went  on  with  his  study,  gather- 
ing and  comparing  words  and  idioms  day  by  day 
with  that  care  and  accuracy  which  made  his  trans- 
lation of  the  Bnrman  Bible  one  of  the  notable  bibli- 
cal versions  of  all  times  and  tongues. 

While  exposed  to  much  peril  from  the  lawless 
character  of  the  people  and  from  the  location  of 
their  house  without  the  limits  of  the  city,  the  life  of 
the  Judsons  was  by  no  means  so  unhappy  or  unfa- 
vorable for  mission  work  as  they  had  expected  from 
their  previous  impressions  of  Burma.  In  addition 
to  the  conciliatory  attitude  of  the  viceroy  of  Ran- 
goon, won  by  the  medical  skill  of  Carey,  Mr.  Jnd- 
son had  now  gained  his  personal  favor  and  protec- 
tion for  himself.  Of  his  pleasant  impressions  of 
Burma  he  wrote  to  Dr.  William  Carey  on  September 
28,  1814: 

This  is  a  delightful  climate.  We  have  now  seen  all 
the  seasons  and  can  therefore  judge.  The  hot  weather 
in  March  and  April  is  the  chief  exception.  Nature  has 
done  everything  for  this  country  and  the  government  is 
very  indulgent  to  all  foreigners.     When  we  see  how  we 


BEGINNINGS    IN    BURMA  23 

are  distinguished  above  all  around,  even  in  point  of 
worldly  comforts,  we  feel  that  we  want  gratitude.  Oh, 
that  we  may  be  faithful  in  the  improvement  of  every 
mercy  and  patient  under  every  trial  which  God  may 
have  in  store  for  us  !  We  know  not  how  the  gospel  can 
ever  be  introduced  here  ;  everything  in  this  respect  ap- 
pears as  dark  as  midnight. 

The  work  of  preaching  the  gospel  was  necessarily 
held  largely  in  abeyance  until  the  language  could 
be  acquired,  and  this  proved  so  difficult  with  the 
inadequate  aids  at  his  command,  that  Judson  con- 
fessed that  he  gained  a  better  knowledge  of  French 
in  a  few  months  than  of  Burman  in  three  years. 
However,  by  diligent  application  he  had  translated 
the  Gospel  of  Matthew  by  1816,  and  prepared  sev- 
eral tracts  on  phases  of  Christianity  which  seemed 
fitted  to  attract  Burman  minds  and  acquaint  them 
with  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  gospel.  On 
October  15  of  this  same  year  arrived  the  first 
reinforcements  of  the  infant  Baptist  mission  in 
Burma.  Rev.  George  H.  Hough  and  his  wife,  na- 
tives of  New  Hampshire,  were  the  first  to  sail  from 
America  under  the  auspices  of  the  Baptist  Mission- 
ary Convention,  which  indicated  its  sense  of  the 
importance  of  the  printed  word  by  appointing  a 
printer  as  the  first  to  start  for  the  mission  field 
under  its  direction.  The  Serampore  mission  sup- 
plied him  with  a  printing  press  and  all  appliances 
necessary  to  place  the  truth  in  the  printed  page 
before  the  Burman  people. 


24  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

The  delay  in  giving  the  gospel  to  the  people  in 
oral  form,  caused  by  the  difficulty  in  gaining  a  com- 
mand of  Burman  speech,  led  Mr.  Judson  to  under- 
take a  voyage  to  Chittagong,  Arakan,  to  secure 
Christian  converts  to  assist  him,  since  the  dialect 
used  there  was  similar  to  that  of  the  Burmans.  He 
also  hoped  that  his  health,  which  had  become  some- 
what impaired,  would  receive  benefit  from  the 
change.  This  journey,  entered  upon  from  such 
high  motives,  proved  a  source  of  untold  anxiety 
and  distress  to  the  little  mission  circle  in  Rangoon. 
Mr.  Judson  had  expected  to  be  absent  three  months. 
At  the  end  of  that  time  the  startling  intelligence 
was  received  from  Chittagong  that  neither  he  nor 
the  vessel  in  which  he  sailed  had  reached  that  port. 
Imagine  the  dismay  of  Mrs.  Judson  and  her  com- 
panions, helpless  amid  their  uncivilized  surround- 
ings. In  addition,  a  sad  change  had  come  to  the 
circumstances  of  the  mission.  The  friendly  official 
was  supplanted  by  one  of  entirely  different  charac- 
ter, who,  by  calling  Mr.  Hough  before  him  and  by 
threats,  endeavored  to  extort  bribes  for  toleration 
and  protection.  Still  more  ominous  were  the  threat- 
enings  of  war  between  Burma  and  England.  British 
merchants  hastily  closed  their  business  and  departed 
from  Rangoon.  Ship  after  ship  sailed  away  until 
only  one  foreign  vessel  was  left  in  Rangoon  River. 
On  this  the  Houghs  determined  to  embark,  and  with 
much  difficulty  persuaded  Mrs.  Judson  to  accompany 
them.     She  went  on  board,  but  before  the  ship  had 


BEGINNINGS    IN    BURMA  25 

left  the  river,  she  heroically  resolved  to  return  and 
in  the  Rangoon  home  await  the  coming  of  her 
husband,  or  some  certain  news  of  his  fate.  The 
Houghs  were  compelled  to  return  with  her,  as  she 
could  not  be  abandoned  in  the  unsettled  condition 
of  the  country.'  In  a  week  Mr.  Judson  arrived 
safe  and  well,  having  been  driven  from  place  to 
place  by  contrary  winds  and  unable  to  reach  his 
destination.  Thus  was  the  heroism  of  the  devoted 
wife  rewarded,  and  in  this  trial  brightly  shone  forth 
the  exalted  traits  of  character  which  in  after  years 
have  made  immortal  the  name  of  Ann  Hasseltine 
Judson. 

Disheartened  by  the  eontinued  and  increasing 
perils,  the  Houghs  soon  sailed  with  all  the  printing- 
materials  for  Calcutta,  leaving  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judson 
again  alone  in  Rangoon.  Their  lonely  lot  was  soon 
cheered,  however,  by  the  arrival  of  Rev.  James 
Colman  and  Rev.  Edward  W.  Wheelock,  of  Boston, 
with  their  wives,  who  reached  Rangoon  in  Septem- 
ber, 1818,  after  a  tedious  delay  of  several  months 
in  Calcutta,  because  of  the  infrecpiient  and  uncertain 
communication  with  Burma.  For  the  help  of  the 
new  missionaries,  Mr.  Judson  began  the  preparation 
of  his  grammar,  which  was  afterward  published, 
and  has  remained  a  foundation  for  an  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  Burman  language.  Their  joys 
were  also  heightened  by  the  opening  of  a  zayat  for 
preaching  the  gospel,  in  April,  1819,  the  first  house 
distinctively  devoted  to  Christian  worship  in  Burma, 


26  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

the  stronghold  of  Buddhism ;  and  on  June  1 9,  after 
six  years  of  toil,  privation,  and  peril,  their  hearts 
were  gladdened  by  the  baptism  of  the  first  Burman 
convert.  This  was  Moung  Nau,  who  was  also,  as 
far  as  history  shows,  the  first  convert  from  the  big- 
oted beliefs  of  Buddhism  to  the  truths  of  the  religion 
of  Jesus  Christ.  Two  others  were  baptized  on  No- 
vember 7  of  the  same  year,  and  the  first  Christian 
church,  composed  of  the  three  converts  and  the  little 
band  of  American  missionaries,  began  to  shed  its 
rays  of  divine  light  amid  the  darkness  of  Buddhist 
Burma. 

As  their  previous  life  in  Burma  had  been  a  suc- 
cession of  pleasures  and  perils,  so  the  new  joys  of 
the  Judsons  were  destined  to  an  early  eclipse.  Both 
Wheelock  and  Column  began  to  show  symptoms  of 
fatal  disease,  and  it  became  necessary  for  Mr.  Whee- 
lock to  sail  for  Calcutta  in  hope  of  recovery.  On 
the  voyage,  in  a  frenzy  of  delirium,  he  threw  him- 
self from  his  cabin  window  and  was  drowned  in  the 
bay  of  Bengal,  the  first  of  the  long  succession  of 
American  Baptists  who  have  given  their  lives  for 
the  salvation  of  the  people  of  Burma.  The  dawn- 
ing success  of  the  mission  aroused  the  hostility  of 
the  Buddhist  priests  and  Burman  officials.  Threats 
were  uttered  against  any  who  might  be  disposed  to 
follow  the  new  religion.  The  preaching  zayat, 
which  had  often  been  crowded  with  hearers,  was 
almost  deserted,  although  located  on  one  of  the 
most  frequented  streets  of  the  city.      It  became  evi- 


BEGINNINGS    IN    BURMA  27 

dent  that  the  mission  work  would  become  increas- 
ingly difficult  unless  the  favor  of  the  despot  at  Ava 
could  be  secured,  and  Judson,  with  Colman,  made 
the  long  journey  to  the  capital  in  a  small  boat  to 
seek  an  audience  with  the  king.  They  were  intro- 
duced by  the  friendly  official,  formerly  viceroy  of 
Rangoon ;  but  their  petition  was  rejected,  and  they 
were  compelled  to  return  disappointed  and  almost 
crushed  under  a  sense  of  the  difficulties  and  dangers 
which  threatened  their  beloved  work.  So  strong 
was  their  feeling  of  the  impossibility  of  success  in 
Christian  mission  work  in  Burma  without  the  toler- 
ance of  the  arrogant  and  powerful  officials,  that  it 
was  proposed  to  remove  the  whole  mission  to  Chitta- 
gong.  In  this  crisis  the  faith  and  courage  for  con- 
tinuance came  from  the  few  native  converts,  who 
argued  that  not  even  the  powerful  emperor  could 
destroy  the  work  of  God,  and  entreated  the  mission- 
aries not  to  leave  them.  It  was  arranged  that  the 
Judsons  should  remain  in  Rangoon  and  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Colman  should  go  to  Chittagong  to  open  a 
mission,  which  should  serve  as  a  place  of  retreat  in 
case  the  missionaries  were  compelled  to  leave  Burma. 
Thus  for  a  second  time,  so  early  in  its  history,  did 
the  Baptist  mission  in  Burma  narrowly  escape  aban- 
donment. 

The  Colmans  arrived  in  Chittagong  June  5,  1820. 
Mr.  Colman's  health,  never  firm,  soon  succumbed  to 
the  climate,  and  he  died  at  a  place  in  the  interior 
called  Cox's  Bazar,  July  4,   1822.     Mrs.  Colman 


28  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

labored  for  a  time  at  Serampore  as  a  teacher  of 
children,  and  afterward  married  Rev.  Amos  Sutton, 
an  English  Baptist  missionary  in  Orissa,  thus  be- 
coming a  link  in  the  chain  which  led  to  the  found- 
ing of  the  great  American  Baptist  mission  to  the 
Telugus.  It  was  Mr.  Sutton  who,  while  on  a  visit 
to  his  wife's  relatives  in  America,  brought  the  needs 
of  the  Telugu  people  to  the  notice  of  the  Missionary 
Convention  at  its  meeting  in  Richmond,  Va.,  in 
1835. 


CHAPTER  IV 

TO    THE    END    OF    THE    FIRST    BURMAN    WAR 

rnilE  second  meeting  of  the  General  Missionary 
-L  Convention,  commonly  known  as  "The  Second 
Triennial  Convention,"  was  held  in  the  Sansom 
Street  Baptist  Church,  Philadelphia,  in  May,  1817, 
and  was  an  occasion  of  great  interest.  The  foreign 
missionary  movement  had  greatly  grown.  Dele- 
gates were  present  from  twelve  States,  including 
Kentucky,  it  being  the  first  time  that  Baptists  west 
of  the  Allegheny  Mountains  had  been  represented. 
At  this  epochal  meeting,  which  lasted  a  full  week, 
five  important  measures  were  adopted,  all  of  which 
are  still  in  force  and  have  had  a  profound  influ- 
ence on  the  development  of  the  Baptist  denomina- 
tion in  this  country.  (1)  "The  Baptist  Missionary 
Magazine"  wras  adopted  as  the  organ  of  the  Conven- 
tion. (2)  A  seminary  for  the  training  of  young  men 
for  the  ministry  was  authorized,  an  action  which  re- 
sulted in  the  founding  of  Columbian  University,  at 
Washington.  (3)  The  churches  were  earnestly  rec- 
ommended to  observe  the  first  Monday  in  every 
month  as  a  concert  of  prayer  for  missions.  These 
three  measures  were  passed  by  the  Convention.  At 
the  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Managers,  immediately 

29 


30  AMERICAN     BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

after,  steps  were  taken  (4)  for  opening  missions 
among  the  American  Indians,  and  (5)  two  mission- 
aries, Rev.  John  M.  Peck  and  Rev.  James  E.  Welch, 
were  appointed  to  labor  among  the  new  settlements 
in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Louis,  in  Missouri.  This  re- 
markable Convention  thus  inaugurated  movements 
covering  the  whole  ground  of  denominational  jour- 
nalism, education,  unity  in  church  life  and  home 
missions,  both  among  Indians  and  white  people,  ac- 
tions which  speak  loudly  of  the  piety,  breadth, 
courage,  and  mental  calibre  of  the  leading  minds 
among  those  present.  The  annual  income  of  the 
Convention,  which  at  first  had  been  estimated  at 
five  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  had 
advanced  to  twenty-six  thousand  and  fifty-two  dol- 
lars and  one  cent. 

The  measures  thus  adopted  were  carried  steadily 
forward  until  the  Fifth  Triennial  Convention,  which 
was  held  in  the  Oliver  Street  Church,  in  New  York 
City,  in  May,  1826.  This  meeting,  lasting  twelve 
days,  marked  a  turning-point  in  the  history  of  the 
Convention.  Columbian  University,  which  had  be- 
come well  established,  was  placed  under  a  separate 
Board  of  trustees  for  better  legal  and  internal  ad- 
ministration, and  the  headquarters  of  the  Conven- 
tion were  removed  from  Philadelphia  to  Boston, 
where  they  have  since  remained.  This  latter  action 
was  taken  for  two  reasons  :  first,  because  passages 
to  India  could  then  be  more  easily  arranged  from 
Boston,  but  more  especially  because  the  funds  of  the 


TO   THE    END    OF   THE    FIRST    lil'RMAN    WAR    31 

Convention  were  running  low,  and  the  Baptists  of 
New  England  came  forward  and  became  responsible 
for  the  entire  support  of  the  missions.  Because  of 
this  removal,  Doctor  Staughton  resigned  as  corres- 
ponding secretary  of  the  Convention,  and  Lucius 
Bolles,  D.  D.,  who  had  been  chosen  assistant  in  1824, 
became  sole  secretary  in  1826.  In  this  same  year, 
and  just  before  the  meeting  of  the  Convention,  the 
Baptist  General  Tract  Society,  formed  in  Washing- 
ton, in  1824,  now  known  as  the  American  Baptist 
Publication  Society,  had  been  removed  to  the  city 
of  Philadelphia,  an  action  which  was  destined  to 
exercise  a  profound  influence  on  Baptist  missionary 
work  at  home  and  abroad.  As  the  year  1814  had 
marked  the  union  of  the  Baptists  of  the  United 
States  in  a  common  society  and  work,  so  the  year 
1826  signalized  the  beginning  of  that  division  of 
labor  among  organizations  supported  by  the  same 
constituency  for  the  more  efficient  prosecution  of 
diverse  lines  of  denominational  activity,  which  was 
continued  by  the  founding  of  the  American  Baptist 
Home  Mission  Society  in  1832,  and  later  by  other 
organizations  for  local  and  special  purposes  and 
aims. 

For  the  benefit  of  her  health  Mrs.  Judson  had 
been  compelled  to  visit  Serampore,  in  1820,  and  in 
August,  1821,  sailed  for  America,  leaving  Doctor 
Judson  alone  in  Burma  until  the  arrival  in  December 
of  Rev.  Jonathan  Price,  M.  D.,  who  had  been  sent 
out  by  the  Convention.     The  following  month  Mr. 


32  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

Hough  returned  to  Rangoon  from  Serampore,  bring- 
ing back  the  printing  press,  the  loss  of  which  hud 
been  a  serious  hindrance  to  the  work  of  the  mission, 
which  now  went  on  with  renewed  vigor.  Within  a 
few  months  reports  of  the  medical  skill  of  Doctor 
Price  reached  the  king  at  Ava,  and  he  was  sum- 
moned to  the  capital.  Although  reluctant  to  leave 
his  work,  Doctor  Judson  was  compelled  t<>  go  with 
him  as  interpreter.  They  left  Rangoon  August  28, 
1822,  and  were  well  received  by  the  king,  who  de- 
sired them  to  remain  in  Ava,  and  caused  a  house  to 
be  given  them.  After  much  thought  it  seemed  best 
to  take  advantage  of  this  very  favorable  opportunity 
to  open  a  mission  in  the  capital  of  Burma,  and  Doc- 
tor Judson  went  to  Rangoon  to  meet  Mrs.  Judson, 
who  arrived  there  December  5,  1823,  on  her  return 
from  America,  with  Rev.  Jonathan  Wade  and  his 
wife.  Mrs.  J  ud  son's  presence  in  the  United  States 
had  aroused  great  interest,  and  she  was  urged  to 
remain  longer.  But  although  her  health  was  not 
fully  restored,  she  decided,  against  the  entreaties  of 
her  friends,  to  return  to  her  husband  and  her  work, 
a  decision  which  in  the  providence  of  God  led  to 
the  preservation  of  the  life  and  the  securing  to  the 
world  of  the  later  labors  of  the  pioneer  of  Baptist 
foreign  missions. 

At  this  time  the  whole  New  Testament  had  been 
translated  into  the  Burman  tongue,  and  a  church  of 
eighteen  members  gathered  in  Rangoon.  This 
promising  work  the  Judsons  left  to  the  care  of  Mr. 


TO    THE    END    OF    THE    FIRST    BURMAN    WAR    33 

Hough  and  Mr.  Wade,  and  went  to  Ava  with  re- 
joicing hearts  in  view  of  the  bright  openings  and 
prospects  before  the  mission  in  Burma.  Their 
ardent  hopes  were  destined  to  be  rudely  shattered. 
Already  the  ominous  whisper  of  threatening  war 
was  in  the  air.  Rangoon  was  bombarded  by  the 
English  forces  and  captured  May  23,  1824.  Dur- 
ing the  attack  Messrs.  Hough  and  Wade  were  ar- 
rested and  threatened  with' death  by  the  Burmans, 
and  their  unprotected  wives  exposed  to  great  peril. 
By  the  good  hand  of  the  Lord  they  were  delivered 
and  set  free  by  the  English  on  the  capture  of  the 
city.  But  the  Burmans  had  fled.  Rangoon  was  in 
ruins.  All  hopes  of  useful  missionary  work  was 
destroyed,  and  Messrs.  Wade  and  Hough,  with  their 
wives,  removed  to  Calcutta,  where  they  remained 
during  the  war,  known  in  English  history  as  the 
First  Burman  War.  Having  a  copy  of  Mr.  Judson's 
translation  with  him  at  Serampore,  Mr.  Hough 
printed  five  hundred  copies  of  the  Gospel  of  Matthew 
in  the  Burman  language,  and  Mr.  Wade  supervised 
the  publication  of  Judson's  Burman  dictionary  issued 
at  the  expense  of  the  British  government. 

Mr.  Judson  and  Doctor  Price,  at  Ava,  were  ar- 
rested by  the  Burmans  on  June  8,  1824,  simply  be- 
cause they  were  foreigners,  and  supposed  to  be  in 
sympathy  with  the  English,  and  for  more  than  a 
year  and  a  half  they  were  in  prison  at  Ava,  Amara- 
pura,  or  Oungpenla  (now  spelled  Aungbinle)  under 
the  most  cruel  tortures  of  bodv  and  mind  which  it 


34  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

is  possible  for  the  human  constitution  to  survive. 
The  Burmans  gave  no  food  to  their  prisoners,  who 
were  entirely  dependent  upon  their  friends  or  the 
kindness  of  strangers  for  subsistence.  That  Mr. 
Judson  did  not  die  of  starvation  in  prison,  that  he 
survived  the  severe  sufferings  of  his  long  imprison- 
ment, was  entirely  due  to  the  heroism  of  Mrs.  Jud- 
son, who  bought  supplies  as  long  as  she  had  money, 
and  then  begged  from  house  to  house  in  order  to 
obtain  the  food  necessary  to  sustain  her  husband  as 
well  as  herself.  No  words  could  describe  the  agony 
of  those  long  months,  both  to  the  prisoner  and  to 
his  feeble  but  heroic  wife.  Mrs.  Judson  writes : 
"  Of  our  sufferings  and  distresses  none  can  form  an 
idea  but  those  who  were  in  confinement  with  us. 
You  will  hardly  believe  when  I  say  that  so  entirely 
occupied  were  our  minds  with  afflictions  and  seek- 
ing means  for  deliverance,  that  months  have  elapsed 
without  thinking  of  home  or  those  dear  friends  on 
whom  our  thoughts  have  been  so  constantly  fixed." 
Doctor  Judson  wrote  :  "  We  survive  a  scene  of  suf- 
fering which  seems  not  a  reality,  but  a  horrid 
dream." 

At  one  time  Mrs.  Judson's  house  was  plundered 
by  the  natives  and  nearly  everything  of  value  which 
she  possessed  was  taken  from  her.  Twice  during 
the  nineteen  fearful  months  of  Doctor  Judson's  im- 
prisonment at  Ava  and  Aungbinle  she  was  brought 
to  the  gates  of  death,  once  on  the  birth  of  little 
Maria,  that  child  of  sorrow,  and  a  second  time  with 


TO    THE    END    OF    THE    FIRST    BURMAN    WAR    35 

the  terrible  spotted  fever.  During  this  last  sickness 
the  life  of  little  Maria  was  preserved  by  the  sad- 
hearted  father,  who  obtained  a  short  daily  release 
from  his  prison,  and  in  his  chains  bore  his  little 
daughter  from  house  to  house,  begging  that  she 
might  be  fed  by  the  Burman  mothers.  Even 
heathen  hearts  could  not  refuse  such  a  pitiful  re- 
quest. Amid  all  the  gloom  and  terror  of  these 
terrible  months  two  comforts  supported  Mrs.  Jud- 
son  during  her  sufferings  and  suspense.  A  faithful 
Burman  Christian,  Moung  Ing,  with  great  devotion, 
stayed  unflinchingly  by  her  side.  She  also  found 
friends  among  the  women  of  Moung  Shawloo's 
family.  Shawloo  was  governor  of  the  north  palace, 
and  it  was  through  him  that  the  release  of  Doctor 
Judson  was  at  last  obtained.  With  what  joy  did 
the  heroic  Avife  hail  the  day  of  deliverance,  when 
with  her  husband  and  child  they  were  set  free  by 
the  Burman  authorities  and  sailed  away  to  safety. 
But  like  other  heroines  in  other  times  the  tremen- 
dous strain  was  too  great  for  the  frail  strength  of 
Mrs.  Judson,  and  only  six  months  after  their  release 
the  heroine  of  Ava  was  laid  to  rest  beneath  the  Hopia 
tree  at  Amherst.  The  closing  scenes  of  her  life 
were  most  pathetic.  After  reaching  Amherst,  Doc- 
tor Judson  was  called  to  the  British  headquarters  to 
act  as  interpreter  to  the  embassy  charged  with  ne- 
gotiating a  treaty  of  peace.  During  his  absence 
Mrs.  Judson  died  alone,  October  24,  1826,  with 
only  natives  to  care  for  her  in  her  last  moments. 


36  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

So  passed  away  one  of  the  genuine  heroines  of 
earth.  She  gave  her  life  for  others,  following  in 
the  footsteps  of  her  Lord.  To  the  noble  army  of 
Christian  women,  who  have  offered  themselves  as  a 
sacrifice  for  the  salvation  of  the  heathen,  she  has 
been  an  example  and  an  inspiration.  She  was  the 
first  woman  to  enter  upon  Christian  labors  in  a 
purely  heathen  kingdom  in  the  East,  and  was  the 
heroic  pioneer  of  those  who  have  followed  her  as 
she  followed  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  May  the 
church  never  lack  those  ready  with  the  same  heroic 
courage  to  surrender  all,  even  life  itself,  when  duty 
calls  to  service  for  others  and  sacrifice  for.  Christ. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  the  provinces  of  Arakan 
and  Tenasserim  were  ceded  to  the  English,  and 
Amherst  was  selected  as  headquarters  of  the  English 
in  Burma.  Hither  the  Judsons  removed,  reaching 
that  place  July  2,  1826,  the  Wades  coming  Novem- 
ber 23,  a  month  after  the  death  of  Mrs.  Judson. 
Mr.  Hough  and  Doctor  Price  both  retired  from  the 
mission,  the  former  becoming  an  interpreter  and 
teacher,  and  the  latter  entering  the  service  of  the 
Burman  king  at  Ava.  During  the  long  captivity 
of  Judson  the  manuscript  of  the  Burman  Bible,  as 
far  as  translated,  was  preserved  by  an  evident  mani- 
festation of  divine  care.  It  was  concealed  from  the 
suspicious  Burmans  by  being  sewed  into  a  pillow. 
At  one  time  during  Doctor  Judson's  confinement 
this  was  taken  from  him  and  thrown  upon  a  heap 
of  refuse  as  entirely  worthless.     Here  it  was  provi- 


TO   THE    END    OF   THE    FIRST    BURMAN    WAR   37 

dentially  seen  by  Moung  Ing,  who,  since  all  the 
other  possessions  of  the  Judsons  had  been  destroyed 
or  stolen,  took  this  old  pillow  simply  as  a  memento,  not 
knowing  its  value.  Later  the  precious  manuscript 
was  discovered  and  taken  with  the  liberated  prison- 
ers within  the  British  lines.  By  this  remarkable 
exhibition  of  the  care  of  the  Lord,  Judson  was  en- 
abled to  resume  his  work  of  translation  at  the  point 
where  it  had  ended  before  the  war  began,  and  to 
give  the  Burman  people  the  whole  Bible  in  their 
own  language  in  a  version  so  accurate  and  idiomatic 
that  comparatively  little  revision  has  ever  been 
called  for. 


CHAPTER   V 

GROWTH    AND    EXPANSION 

WHILE  the  mission  in  Burma  naturally  en- 
gaged much  of  the  attention  of  American 
Baptists,  their  missionary  activity  was  by  no  means 
limited  to  this  one  field.  The  missions  among  vari- 
ous tribes  of  American  Indians,  founded  before  the 
organization  of  the  General  Convention,  were  con- 
tinued, usually  under  the  auspices  of  local  societies. 
But  in  1817  the  Board  of  the  Convention  appointed 
Rev.  Isaac  McCoy  to  labor  among  the  Indians  of  vari- 
ous tribes  in  Indiana  and  Illinois.  Later  Rev.  Evan 
Jones  and  others  were  sent  to  the  Cherokees  in  North 
Carolina.  Other  Baptist  missionaries  labored  among 
various  tribes  in  the  East,  and  several  of  these  mis- 
sionaries accompanied  the  Indians  in  their  cruel  and 
unjust  removal  by  the  United  States  Government 
from  their  homes  to  the  new  territories  allotted  to 
them  in  the  West.  Many  of  these  Indians  had  be- 
come Christianized  and  comparatively  civilized  and 
had  accumulated  property  in  their  Eastern  homes, 
and  the  forcible  rending  of  the  ties  which  bound  them 
to  their  ancestral  lands  was  one  of  those  wholesale 
crimes  which  stain  the  pages  of  history,  like  the  ex- 
pulsion of  the  Moors  and  of  the  Jews  from  Spain, 

38 


GKOWTH    AND    EXPANSION  39 

the  Acadians  from  Nova  Scotia,  and  the  Jews  from 
Russia.  From  lack  of  materials  its  harrowing  his- 
tory can  never  be  fully  written  and  it  yet  awaits  its 
Longfellow  to  bring  its  shameful  features  to  the 
hearts  of  the  American  people. 

The  tribes  which  enjoyed  the  labors  of  Baptist 
missionaries  were  the  Miami,  Kickapoo,  Putawato- 
mie,  Shawanoe,  Cherokee,  Creek,  Oneida  and  Tus- 
carora,  Ottawa,  Choctaw,  Ojibwa,  Chippewa,  Otoe, 
Omaha,  Delaware,  and  Stockbridge.  The  work 
was  greatly  broken  by  the  removal  of  many  of  these 
tribes  to  the  West,  by  which  they  Mere  reduced  to 
poverty  and  largely  lapsed  into  barbarism.  Yet 
missionary  work  was  still  continued  with  several 
tribes,  notably  the  Cherokee  and  the  Shawanoe,  and 
nearly  two  thousand  converts  were  baptized.  With 
the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  in  1861,  the  mission 
work  among  the  Indians,  which  had  been  carried 
on  with  diminished  force  for  several  years,  practi- 
cally ceased.  In  1865  it  was  formally  transferred 
from  the  foreign  Board  to  the  American  Baptist 
Home  Mission  Society,  whose  successful  work  among 
the  Indians  in  later  years  is  a  part  of  the  history  of 
Baptists  in  the  United  States. 

Africa  also  early  claimed  the  missionary  attention 
of  American  Baptists.  Inspired  probably  by  the 
rise  of  interest  in  missions  among  the  whites,  the 
Negro  Baptists  in  1814  organized  the  "African 
Baptist  Missionary  Society,"  in  Richmond,  Va.,  for 
the  purpose  of  sending  missionaries  to  Africa.     Be- 


40  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

cause  of  poverty,  funds  came  in  slowly,  but  in  1818 
they  had  gathered  the  sum  of  seven  hundred  dollars. 
Under  these  circumstances  the  General  Convention 
came  to  their  aid,  and  at  the  meeting  of  the  Board 
of  Managers  held  in  Baltimore,  April  28,  1810, 
two  men  selected  by  the  Richmond  Society,  Colin 
Teague  and  Lott  Carey,  both  of  whom  were  free 
men  and  preachers,  were  appointed  as  missionaries 
to  Africa.  They  sailed  in  January,  1820,  in  the  brig 
"Nautilus,"  from  Norfolk,  Virginia,  and  settled 
first  near  Free  Town,  Sierra  Leone.  The  mission- 
aries were  connected  with  a  colony  sent  out  by  the 
American  Colonization  Society,  which  afterward 
permanently  located  at  a  place  called  Montserado, 
the  name  of  which  was  soon  changed  to  Monrovia, 
and  for  the  country  the  name  of  Liberia  was  adopted. 
Mr.  Teague  soon  left  the  mission,  and  Mr.  Carey 
was  joined  by  Rev.  C.  M.  Waring,  also  from  Vir- 
ginia. A  Baptist  church  was  formed  in  1824,  a 
school  was  opened  by  Mr.  Carey,  and  nine  persons 
were  baptized  in  that  year.  Mr.  Calvin.  Holton,  a 
graduate  of  Waterville  College  and  the  first  white 
man  to  be  sent  to  Africa  by  American  Baptists, 
joined  the  mission  at  Monrovia  in  1826.  A  deep 
interest  in  the  Christianization  of  Africa  was  shown 
by  Baptists  in  this  country.  Five  missionaries  were 
sent  out  in  the  decade  between  1830  and  1840. 
But  the  climate  of  Liberia  proved  unfavorable  to 
the  residence  of  missionaries  from  America  and 
only  a  few  have  gone  forth  since  the  latter  date. 


GROWTH    AND    EXPANSION  41 

Prosperity  attended  the  labors  of  the  missionaries, 
however,  and  the  work  extended  from  Monrovia  to 
other  parts  of  Liberia,  especially  to  Grand  Cape 
Mount  and  to  Grand  Bassa.  With  the  growth 
of  Liberia,  the  Baptist  churches  have  been  greatly 
strengthened  by  colonies  from  the  United  States, 
and  have  attained  an  enrollment  of  more  than  three 
thousand  members.  Aid  from  this  country  was 
gradually  withdrawn  and  wholly  ceased  previous  to 
1880,  and  the  Liberian  churches  have  continued  in 
a  course  of  moderate  prosperity  on  the  basis  of  self- 
support.  Within  a  few  years  some  assistance  on 
educational  lines  has  been  afforded  by  the  Negro 
Baptists  of  the  South,  and  there  were  in  1900  some 
indications  of  a  revival  of  interest  in  missionary 
work  in  Liberia  among  American  Baptists. 

The  four  years  from  1833  to  1837  form  a  nota- 
ble period  in  the  history  of  American  Baptist  mis- 
sions. Previous  to  1833  the  rising  tide  of  mission- 
ary zeal  among  American  Baptists  had  expended 
its  force  almost  wholly  in  Burma,  in  Liberia,  among 
the  American  Indians,  and  in  the  more  sparsely  set- 
tled regions  of  the  United  States.  But  now  the 
swelling  flood  began  to  overleap  the  barriers  and 
flow  forth  to  other  lands  in  accordance  with  the 
divinely  given  impulse  of  obedience  to  the  Saviour's 
last  command,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach 
the  gospel  to  every  creature."  In  that  year  the 
mission  in  Burma  having  occupied  the  three  impor- 
tant centers  of  Rangoon,   Moulmein,  and  Tavoy, 


42  AMEEICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

with  outlying  laborers  at  Mergui,  Amherst,  Kyouk 
Phyu  in  Arakan,  and  several  minor  points,  the  mis- 
sionaries commissioned  Rev.  John  Taylor  Jones  of 
their  own  number  to  open  a  mission  in  Bangkok, 
Siam,  where  he  was  joined  in  1835  by  Rev.  William 
Dean.  In  1833  was  also  founded  the  Baptist  Mis- 
sion in  France  on  the  recommendation  of  Professor 
Irah  Chase,  of  Newton  Theological  Institution,  who 
with  Rev.  J.  C.  Rostan,  had  been  sent  as  a  deputa- 
tion to  report  on  the  advisability  of  opening  a 
Baptist  mission  in  that  country.  Rev.  Isaac  Will- 
marth  was  sent  by  the  General  Missionary  Conven- 
tion to  this  field  in  1834,  and  was  followed  by  Rev. 
Erastus  Willard  and  others.  On  April  22,  1834, 
Johann  G.  Oncken  and  six  others  were  baptized  in 
the  river  Elbe,  near  Hamburg,  Germany,  by  Pro- 
fessor Barnas  Sears,  and  thus  was  begun  that  great 
German  Baptist  Mission  which  has  spread  all  over 
Central  Europe  and  to  which  the  Baptist  missions 
iu  Denmark,  Sweden,  Norway,  and  Russia  owe 
their  inspiration  and  their  birth.  In  1834  also,  a 
mission  in  Hayti  was  begun  by  the  appointment  of 
Mr.  William  C.  Monroe  as  a  missionary  to  labor  in 
that  part  of  the  West  Indies,  but  this  was  discon- 
tinued in  1837  with  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Monroe 
from  the  work. 

At  the  eighth  triennial  meeting  of  the  General 
Missionary  Convention  held  in  the  city  of  Richmond, 
Va.,  in  1835,  the  missionary  enthusiasm  of  Ameri- 
can Baptists  reached  a  higher  point  than  had  before 


GROWTH    AND    EXPANSION  43 

been  attained.  By  the  liberal  contributions  of  the 
denomination  all  the  expenses  of  the  missions  and 
their  administration  had  been  fully  met,  and  a  grati- 
fying surplus  was  in  the  treasury.  The  state  of  the 
missionary  movement  among  the  churches  was  such 
that  enlargement  was  felt  to  be  imperative  in  order 
to  allow  full  scope  for  the  growing  zeal  for  the  ex- 
tension of  the  kingdom  of  the  Redeemer.  Two  cor- 
responding secretaries  were  chosen,  instead  of  one 
as  heretofore ;  the  services  of  the  treasurer,  which 
had  been  gratuitious  up  to  this  time,  had  become  so 
arduous  and  important  that  arrangements  were  made 
that  he  should  receive  suitable  compensation  ;  it 
Avas  resolved  to  "  endeavor,  by  the  blessing  of  God, 
to  raise  during  the  coining  year  at  least  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  for  the  purpose  of  sending  the 
gospel  to  the  heathen,"  and  the  following  general 
instruction  to  the  Board  of  Managers  was  passed 
"  after  animating  remarks  by  different  brethren." 

Resolved,  That  this  Convention,  feeling  deeply  the  duty 
of  the  American  Baptists  to  engage  in  far  more  enlarged 
and  vigorous  efforts  for  the  conversion  of  the  whole  world, 
instruct  the  Board  to  establish  new  missions  in  every  un- 
occupied place  where  there  may  be  a  reasonable  prospect 
of  success  ;  and  to  employ  in  some  part  of  the  great  field, 
every  properly  qualified  missionary  whose  services  the 
Board  may  be  able  to  obtain. 

The  immediate  establishment  of  a  mission  among 
the  Telinga,  or  Telugu,  people  of  India,  was  also  rec- 
ommended by  a  special  committee  appointed  to  con- 


44  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

sider  the  subject  as  presented  in  an  address  before 
the  Convention  by  Rev.  Amos  Sutton  of  the  English 
Baptist  Mission  in  Orissa,  India.  Mr.  Sutton,  as 
already  stated,  had  married  in  India,  the  widow  of 
Rev.  James  Column,  one  of  the  early  martyrs  of  the 
American  Baptist  Missions  in  Arakan,  and  was  at 
this  time  visiting  her  relatives.  In  this  providential 
way  was  brought  to  the  attention  of  American  Bap- 
tists the  Telugu  mission  field,  which  has  witnessed 
the  most  inspiring  triumphs  of  the  gospel,  and  which, 
with  the  Karen  mission,  has  made  the  name  of 
American  Baptists  illustrious  in  the  missionary 
annals  of  the  world. 

The  first  result  of  this  great  Convention  was  the 
appointment  of  Rev.  Howard  Malcom  as  a  deputa- 
tion to  visit  the  mission  fields  in  Asia.  He  sailed 
from  Boston  in  September,  1835,  with  a  large  com- 
pany of  missionaries,  among  whom  were  Rev.  Elisha 
L.  Abbott  and  Rev.  Samuel  S.  Day,  designated  to 
open  a  mission  among  the  Telingas  as  the  people 
were  then  called,  or  Telngus,  as  they  are  now  known. 
Before  arrival  in  India  it  was  decided  by  Mr.  Mal- 
com and  the  missionary  company  that  Mr.  Abbott 
should  go  to  the  Karen  mission  in  Burma,  which  he 
did,  leaving  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Day  to  open  the  Baptist 
mission  among  the  Telngus.  They  landed  first  at 
Vizagapatam,  after  a  time  removed  to  Madras,  and 
in  1840  located  at  Nellore,  which  for  twenty-six 
years  continued  the  only  station  in  the  Telugu  mis- 
sion— the  "  Lone  Star." 


GROWTH    AND    EXPANSION  45 

A  second  result  of  the  action  of  the  Convention 
at  Richmond  was  the  opening  of  the  mission  in 
Greece.  Its  headquarters  were  first  established  at 
Corfu,  but  gradually  other  points  were  occupied. 
Although  the  gospel  found  ready  listeners  among 
the  Greeks,  there  has  never  been  any  large  number 
who  were  impelled  to  leave  the  national  church. 
The  Greek  mission  was  carried  on  for  a  long  series 
of  years,  often  amid  persecutions  and  usually  in  the 
face  of  obstacles  and  indifference,  until  the  work  was 
finally  discontinued  in  1886. 

Inspired  also  by  the  glowing  zeal  of  the  mission- 
ary spirit  among  American  Baptists  at  this  period, 
Rev.  Nathan  Brown,  of  the  mission  in  Burma,  with 
Mr.  O.  T.  Cutter,  a  printer,  responded  to  the  invita- 
tion of  an  English  official  in  Assam,  and  opened 
mission  work  at  Sadiya  in  the  extreme  northeastern 
part  of  that  province  of  India,  in  the  year  1836. 
The  missionaries  had  become  acquainted  with  a  race 
of  people  called  Shans,  occupying  the  hills  of  north- 
eastern Burma,  and  learning  that  this  race  or  tribe 
extended  over  the  mountains  into  Assam,  where  they 
are  called  Khamti,  the  mission  in  Assam  was  begun 
under  the  name  "  mission  to  the  Shans,"  and  also 
with  the  idea  of  ultimately  effecting  an  entrance  to 
the  western  provinces  of  China,  a  plan  which  was 
formally  endorsed  and  encouraged  by  the  Board  of 
Managers  of  the  Convention. 

"While  these  stirring  advances  were  being  made  in 
the  missionary  work  abroad,  events  of  great  interest 


46  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

and  importance  were  occurring  at  home.  At  the 
same  Convention  held  at  Richmond  at  which  the 
establishment  of  the  Telugu  mission  was  authorized, 
the  following  resolution  in  regard  to  the  Bible  work 
was  adopted  : 

Resolved,  That  the  generous  donations  which  have  re- 
peatedly been  made  to  the  funds  of  the  Convention  by 
the  American  Bible  Society,  the  American  Tract  Society, 
and  the  Baptist  General  Tract  Society,  are  regarded  by 
this  body  as  a  delightful  indication  of  that  increasing 
spirit  of  Christian  union  and  fraternal  co-operation  which 
is  the  promised  precursor  of  Messiah's  promised  reign. 

The  translating  and  giving  to  the  peoples  on  the 
mission  fields  the  word  of  God  had  always  been 
considered  an  object  of  the  highest  importance  by 
American  Baptists.  Large  sums  had  been  expended 
by  them  out  of  the  general  contributions  to  the  Con- 
vention, in  addition  to  the  amounts  received  from 
various  Bible  Societies,  chiefly  those  noted  in  the 
above  resolution. 

The  harmonious  and  delightful  course  of  affairs 
referred  to  in  this  resolution  was  however  destined 
to  a  speedy  and  rude  disturbance.  Versions  made 
by  the  Baptist  missionaries  had  always  been  pre- 
pared on  the  principle  of  giving  to  people  of  every 
language  the  exact  meaning  of  the  Bible  in  the 
original,  by  translation.  This  had  aroused  a  protest 
on  the  part  of  Pedobaptist  missionaries  in  India, 
which  had  led  to  a  refusal  on  the  part  of  the  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society  to  further  assist  in  the 


GROWTH    AND    EXPANSION  47 

printing  of  the  Bengali  translation  of  the  Bible  made 
by  the  English  Baptist  missionaries.  The  same  pro- 
test was  forwarded  to  the  American  Bible  Society, 
and  after  prolonged  consideration  and  discussion 
that  society  adopted  a  resolution  that  they  would 
aid  only  such  versions  as  conformed  in  the  principle 
of  their  translation  to  the  Common  English  version. 
This  made  it  impossible  for  the  society  to  continue 
its  appropriations  for  the  versions  made  by  Judson 
and  other  Baptist  missionaries  in  India,  and  led  to 
the  separation  of  the  Baptists  from  the  American 
Bible  Society.  At  the  meeting  of  the  Board  of 
Managers  of  the  General  Convention,  held  in  Hart- 
ford, in  1836,  a  special  committee  was  appointed  on 
this  subject,  which  presented  the  following  report : 

The  committee,  to  whom  was  referred  the  communi- 
cation from  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  American 
Bil>le  Society,  unanimously  report  : 

That  these  communications  present  two  subjects,  for 
the  decision  of  the  Board  : 

1.  Mr.  Brigham,  in  his  letter  dated  March  25,  1836, 
states  that  on  the  17th  inst.,  at  a  meeting  of  the  mana- 
gers, the  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars  was  appropriated 
to  the  Baptist  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  to  promote 
the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  in  foreign  tongues. 

This  appropriation,  however,  was  made  in  accordance 
with  certain  resolutions  of  the  Board  of  Managers, 
adopted  Feb.  17,  1836,  one  of  which  resolutions  declares, 
"  That  in  appropriating  money  for  the  translating,  print- 
ing, or  distributing  of  the  sacred  Scriptures  in  foreign 
languages,  the  managers  feel  at  liberty  to  encourage  only 
such  versions  as  conform  in  the  principles  of  their  transla- 


48  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

tion  to  the  Common  English  version,  at  least  so  far  as  that 
all  the  religious  denominations  represented  in  the  society 
can  consistently  use  and  circulate  said  versions  in  their 
several  schools  and  communities."  Another  resolution 
declares,  "That  the  several  Missionary  Boards  he  in- 
formed that  their  applications  for  aid  must  he  accom- 
panied with  a  declaration  that  the  versions  which  they 
propose  to  circulate  are  executed  in  accordance  with 
the  above  resolutions." 

The  committee  recommend  to  the  Board  the  adoption 
of  the  following  preamble  and  resolution  : 

Whereas,  This  Board,  at  their  annual  meeting,  held 
in  Salem,  in  April,  1833,  adopted  the  following  resolu- 
tions : 

Resolved,  That  the  Board  feel  it  to  be  their  duty  to 
adopt  all  prudent  measures  to  give  to  the  heathen  the 
pure  word  of  God  in  their  own  languages,  and  to  furnish 
their  missionaries  with  all  the  means  in  their  power  to 
make  the  translations  as  exact  a  representation  of  the 
mind  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  may  be  possible. 

Resolved,  That  all  the  missionaries  of  the  Board,  who 
are,  or  who  shall  be,  engaged  in  translating  the  Scrip- 
tures, be  instructed  to  endeavor,  by  earnest  prayer  ami 
diligent  study,  to  ascertain  the  exact  meaning  of  the 
original  text ;  to  express  that  meaning,  as  exactly  as  the 
nature  of  the  languages  into  which  they  shall  translate 
the  Bible  will  permit ;  and  to  transfer  no  words  which 
are  capable  of  being  literally  translated. 

And  Whereas,  The  Board  still  adheres  firmly  to  these 
resolutions,  as  expressing,  in  their  judgment,  the  only 
true  principle  on  which  translations  can  be  made;  and 
as  uttering  what  they  believe  to  be  the  decided  opinion 
of  the  great  mass  of  the  denomination  whom  they  repre- 
sent :  Therefore, 
Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  American 


GROWTH    AND    EXPANSION  -ii) 

Bible  Society  be  respectfully  informed  that  this  Board 
cannot,  consistently  and  conscientiously,  comply  with 
the  conditions  on  which  appropriations  are  now  made, 
and  cannot  therefore  accept  the  sum  appropriated  by 
the  Board  of  Managers  on  the  17th  of  March,  1836. 

2.  Mr.  Brigham  further  informs  the  secretary  of  the 
Board,  that  it  is  in  contemplation  to  send  Bi hie  agents 
to  several  of  the  large  missionary  stations  abroad,  to 
take  charge  of  the  interests  of  the  Bible  cause  so  far  as 
the  American  Bible  Society  is  concerned.  It  is  designed 
that  the  agent,  in  each  case,  be  of  the  denomination  to 
which  the  missionaries  on  the  ground  belong.  Would 
it,  Sir,  be  agreeable  to  your  Board,  to  have  such  an  agent 
sent  to  any  of  your  stations? 

The  committee  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  fol- 
lowing resolution  : 

Resolved,  That  in  the  present  state  of  things,  the  Board 
cannot  perceive  that  the  appointment  of  an  agent  of  the 
American  Bible  Society,  at  any  of  their  stations,  would 
subserve  any  valuable  purpose. 

The  committee  further  recommend  the  adoption  of 
the  following  preamble  and  resolution  : 

Whereas,  The  Board  have  been  impelled,  by  a  con- 
scientious conviction  of  duty,  to  decline  accepting  the 
appropriation  of  funds  made,  on  certain  conditions,  by 
the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  American  Bible  Society  ; 
as  the  translation,  printing,  and  distribution  of  the  sacred 
Scriptures  in  the  languages  of  the  heathen  are  vitally 
connected  with  the  glory  of  God  and  with  the  salvation 
of  men  ;  and  as  the  American  Baptists  enjoy  great  facili- 
ties for  prosecuting  this  important  work  :  Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  our  brethren  throughout  the  Union  be 
most  earnestly  requested  to  adopt  measures  in  their 
churches,  Associations,  missionary  societies,  or  by  any 
other  suitable  means,  so  to  augment  the  funds  of  the 


50  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

Board,  that  the  work  of  translating,  printing,  and  dis- 
tributing the  word  of  God,  in  heathen  tongues,  may  be 
prosecuted  with  diligence  and  energy  commensurate 
with  the  grandeur  and  surpassing  importance  of  the 
enterprise. 

Under  these  circumstances  there  was  formed  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  May  12, 1836,  by  a  company 
of  Baptists,  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society, 
but  its  attempt  to  obtain  incorporation  in  the  Legis- 
lature of  New  York  was  defeated  by  the  friends  of 
the  American  Bible  Society,  and  it  could  not  obtain 
legal  authority  to  act  until  the  passage  of  the  gen- 
eral Act  for  chartering  societies,  in  1848.  How- 
ever, it  received  the  support  of  American  Baptists, 
and  lame  sums  were  raised  and  forwarded  to  the 
missions  for  the  publication  of  versions  made  by 
Baptist  missionaries,  in  the  Burmau  and  other  lan- 
guages. 

While  insisting  on  full  translation  of  the  versions 
made  abroad,  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society 
refused  to  commit  itself  to  an  English  version  in 
which  the  terms  referring  to  baptism  were  accurately 
translated.  Hence  on  May  27,  1850,  was  formed 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  the  American  Bible  Union, 
for  the  avowed  purpose  stated  in  its  Constitution, 
"  To  procure  and  select  the  most  faithful  versions 
of  the  sacred  Scriptures  in  all  languages  throughout 
the  world."  During  the  years  of  its  existence  the 
receipts  of  this  society  amounted  to  more  than  one 
million  dollars,  and  "  its  versions  influenced  every 


GROWTH    AND    EXPANSION  51 

translation  by  Protestants,  in  Europe,  Asia,  Africa, 
and  America."  The  purpose  of  the  Bible  Union  in 
calling  attention  to  the  importance  of  full  and  accu- 
rate translation  of  the  original  Scriptures  into  all 
languages  having  been  accomplished,  it  Mas  practi- 
cally absorbed  by  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society  before  1881. 

Various  attempts  were  made  to  effect  some  modi- 
fication by  which  Baptists  could  again  co-operate 
with  the  American  Bible  Society,  but  none  were 
successful.  In  1879  the  Bible  Society  revised  its 
by-laws  and  omitted  the  article  which  had  driven 
Baptists  from  co-operation  with  that  society  in  Bible 
work.  It  was  for  a  time  believed  that  this  would 
enable  the  Baptists  to  return  to  affiliation  with  this 
society,  and  to  test  the  attitude  of  the  society  toward 
translations  made  by  Baptist  missionaries,  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  of  the  American  Baptist  Mission- 
ary Union,  in  October,  1880,  made  an  application 
to  the  American  Bible  Society  for  a  grant  to  aid 
in  the  circulation  of  Doctor  Judson's  Burman  and 
Doctor  Mason's  Karen  versions.  The  application 
was  refused,  which  plainly  showed  that  while  there 
had  been  a  change  in  language,  the  attitude  of  the 
American  Bible  Society  was  the  same  as  before. 
By  this  act  the  whole  question  of  Bible  work  by 
American  Baptists  was  again  opened,  and  a  confer- 
ence called  by  various  committees  was  held  in  Sara- 
toga, N.  Y.,  May  22  and  23,  1883,  at  which  the 
whole  question  was  fully  considered.     This  great 


52  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

Bible  Convention  was  the  largest  and  most  repre- 
sentative delegated  convention  which  had  ever  been 
held  by  American  Baptists.  After  prolonged  de- 
liberation the  harmonious  result  of  the  Convention 
was  that  the  foreign  Bible  work  of  the  American 
Baptists  should  be  committed  to  the  American  Baptist 
Missionary  Union,  and  the  home  Bible  work  to  the 
American  Baptist  Publication  Society,  and  that  the 
American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  and  the  Ameri- 
can Bible  Union,  should  be  merged  into  the  Ameri- 
can Baptist  Publication  Society.1 

1  A  full  account  of  the  Bible  work  of  American  Baptists  will 
be  found  in  "  Bible  Societies  and  the  Baptists,"  by  C.  C.  Bitting, 
d.  d.,  published  by  the  American  Baptist  Publication  Society  in 
1897. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   SOUTHERN    BAPTIST   CONVENTION 

AS  early  as  1840  a  restlessness  in  the  relations 
between  the  Northern  and  Southern  Baptist 
churches  on  the  subject  of  slavery  was  evident. 
This  was  seen  in  a  circular  issued  by  the  Acting 
Board  of  the  Convention,  November  2,  1840,  stating 
that  the  Board  held  itself  aloof  from  the  question  of 
slavery  as  not  coming  within  the  scope  of  its  opera- 
tions. In  1842  a  missive  was  addressed  to  all  the 
missionaries  of  the  Convention,  by  a  body  calling 
itself  "The  Provisional  Foreign  Mission  Committee 
of  the  American  Baptist  Anti-slavery  Convention," 
charging  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Convention 
with  yielding  its  neutrality  in  the  matter  of  slavery, 
with  adopting  a  humiliating  attitude  toward  slave- 
holders, asserting  that  the  entire  North  would  aban- 
don the  Convention,  and  asking  if  the  missionaries 
receiving  the  circular  would  receive  their  support 
from  an  anti-slavery  Convention  to  be  formed.  The 
Board  denied  the  charges  and  disclaimed  all  sub- 
serviency either  to  the  South  or  North,  in  a  circular 
dated  November  15,  1842.  At  the  meeting  of  the 
Board  of  Managers  held  in  April,  1843,  the  follow- 
ing preamble  and  resolution  were  adopted  : 

53 


54  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

Whereas,  It  appears  to  have  been  extensively  under- 
stood that  by  certain  transactions  at  Baltimore,  during 
the  last  session  of  the  Convention,  the  neutral  attitude  of 
the  Board  in  relation  to  slavery  was  changed,  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  Circular  issued  by  the  Acting  Board 
in  the  year  1840,  asserting  their  neutrality  on  all  sub- 
jects not  immediately  connected  with  the  great  work  to 
which  they  were  specially  appointed,  be  reissued  and 
printed  with  the  Report  of  this  year,  as  expressive  of 
the  sentiments  and  position  of  the  present  Board. 

The  eleventh  triennial  meeting  of  the  Baptist 
General  Convention  was  held  in  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia, April  24,  1844.  The  conflict  of  feeling  in 
regard  to  the  question  of  slavery  instead  of  being 
allayed,  had  rather  increased.  At  this  Convention, 
however,  the  following  resolution  was  adopted  with 
great  unanimity  : 

Whereas,  There  exists,  in  various  sections  of  the 
country,  an  impression  that  our  present  organization 
involves  the  fellowship  of  the  institution  of  domestic 
slavery,  or  of  certain  associations  which  are  designed  to 
oppose  that  institution, 

Therefore,  Resolved,  That,  in  co-operating  together  as 
members  of  this  Convention  in  the  work  of  foreign  mis- 
sions, we  disclaim  all  sanction,  either  express  or  implied, 
whether  of  slavery  or  of  anti-slavery  ;  but,  as  individuals, 
we  are  perfectly  free  both  to  express  and  to  promote, 
elsewhere,  our  own  views  on  these  subjects  in  a  Christian 
manner  and  spirit. 

Notwithstanding  the  conciliatory  attitude  of  the 
Convention  this  was  the  last  meeting  at  which  the 


THE    SOUTHERN    BAPTIST    CONVENTION  55 

whole  country  was  represented.  Of  the  thirty-two 
members  present  at  the  organization  of  the  Conven- 
tion only  six  members  were  living.  The  Convention 
of  1844  adjourned  to  meet  in  Cincinnati,  in  April, 
1S47,  but  before  that  date  events  occurred  which 
made  another  meeting  of  Baptists  of  all  the  States 
in  the  Convention  impossible.  The  Convention,  as 
representing  the  whole  country,  was  a  thing  of  the 
past.  In  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  where  it  began 
with  the  union  of  the  Baptists  of  the  whole  country 
for  the  first  time  in  an  organization,  there  it  ceased 
to  live  as  representing  all  the  States. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Managers 
held  in  Providence,  R.  L,  April  30,  1845,  the  fol- 
lowing report  on  the  subject  which  was  exciting  the 
attention  of  Baptists  throughout  the  whole  country, 
was  adopted  : 

The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  correspond- 
ence between  the  Alabama  State  Convention  and  the 
Acting  Board,  have  attended  to  the  duty  confided  to 
them,  and  ask  leave  to  present  the  following  statements, 
as  embracing,  substantially,  their  views  on  the  subject 
to  which  the  correspondence  refers.  They  are  happy 
also  to  add,  that  in  these  views  the  members  of  the  Act- 
ing Board  present,  in  general,  coincide. 

1.  Tbe  spirit  of  the  constitution  of  the  General  Con- 
vention, as  well  as  the  history  of  its  proceedings  from 
tbe  beginning,  renders  it  apparent  that  all  the  members 
of  the  Baptist  denomination  in  good  standing,  whether 
at  the  Nortb  or  the  South,  are  constitutionally  eligible 
to  all  appointments  emanating  either  from  the  Conven- 
tion or  the  Board. 


56  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

2.  "While  this  is  the  case,  it  is  possible  that  contin- 
gencies may  arise,  in  which  the  carrying  out  of  this 
principle  might  create  the  necessity  of  making  appoint- 
ments by  which  the  brethren  of  the  North  would,  either 
in  fact,  or  in  the  opinion  of  the  Christian  community, 
become  responsible  for  institutions  which  they  could  not, 
with  a  good  conscience,  sanction. 

3.  Were  such  a  case  to  occur,  we  could  not  desire 
our  brethren  to  violate  their  convictions  of  duty  by 
making  such  appointments,  but  should  consider  it  in- 
cumbent on  them  to  refer  the  case  to  the  Convention 
for  its  decision. 

All  which  is  respectfully  submitted,  in  behalf  of  the 
committee. 

F.  Wayland,  Chairman. 

This  report  was  not  satisfactory  to  the  Baptists 
of  the  South,  and  the  committee  of  the  Alabama 
Convention  addressed  a  direct  inquiry  to  the  Acting 
Board  in  Boston,  asking  if  a  slaveholder  would  be 
appointed  as  a  missionary.  The  reply  was  that  in 
accordance  with  the  conscientious  convictions  of  the 
members  of  the  Board  they  could  not  appoint  any 
person  as  a  missionary  who  was  the  owner  of  slaves. 

The  inevitable  result  of  the  controversy  had  been 
foreseen,  and  in  response  to  a  suggestion  of  the 
Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  Virginia,  a  large  and 
enthusiastic  gathering  of  Southern  Baptists  met  in 
Augusta,  Georgia,  by  whom  on  May  8,  1845,  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention,  with  two  Boards,  one 
for  foreign  and  one  for  home  missions,  was  formed.1 

1  An  account  of  the  formation  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Conven- 
tion will  be  found  in  "  A  History  of  the  Baptists  in  the  Southern 


THE   .SOUTHERN    BAPTIST    CONVENTION         57 

The  separation  of  the  missionary  efforts  of  the 
Baptists  of  the  Northern  and  Southern  portions  of 
this  country  was  deeply  deplored  by  many  of  the 
leaders  of  the  denomination  in  both  sections.  Ear- 
nest efforts  were  made  by  some  to  avert  what 
seemed  to  them  a  serious  disaster,  but  it  was  ap- 
parent to  multitudes  that  separation  was  unavoid- 
able. If  it  had  not  occurred  at  that  time  it  would 
unquestionably  have  been  necessarily  made  at  a 
later  date.  It  is  but  fair  to  say,  however,  that  the 
forebodings  of  disaster  were  not  fully  justified. 
While  division,  in  itself  and  for  many  reasons,  was 
to  be  deplored,  the  missionary  cause  suffered  no  in- 
jury, but  was  rather  advanced  by  the  separation. 
The  distance  of  the  Southern  States  from  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Acting  Board  of  the  General  Con- 
vention, in  Boston,  caused  the  general  interest  of 
the  churches  in  the  South  in  the  conduct  of  the 
Board  to  be  of  the  weakest  character.  While  many 
of  the  most  prominent  leaders  of  the  Southern 
churches  were  ardently  interested  in  the  prosperity 
of  the  missions,  the  remoteness  of  the  active  man- 
agement was  a  serious  disadvantage.  By  the  sepa- 
ration of  the  missionary  activities  of  the  Northern 
and  Southern  Baptists  the  responsibility  of  both  was 
increased.  The  Baptists  of  the  North  became  aware 
that  by  the  loss  of  the  help  of  the  Southern  Baptists 
the  whole  support  of  the  missions  was  thrown  upon 

States  East  of  the  Mississippi,"  p.  206,  by  B.  F.  Riley,  d.  d.,  pub- 
lished by  the  American  Baptist  Publication  Society,  in  1898. 


58  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

them,  and  if  they  were  to  be  maintained  in  full 
power  and  effectiveness  greater  zeal  and  greater 
liberality  on  their  part  were  called  for;  while  the 
Southern  Baptists,  by  the  organization  of  their  for- 
eign mission  Board  in  connection  with  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention,  had  the  question  of  missions 
brought  home  to  their  hearts  and  local  loyalty  in 
the  strongest  and  most  convincing  manner.  While 
undoubtedly  there  was  considerable  feeling,  which 
was  to  be  regretted  as  between  different  sections  of 
the  same  Christian  body,  yet  on  the  whole  the  sepa- 
ration served  to  provoke  each  section  of  the  denom- 
ination to  love  and  good  works.  Their  ardor  was 
aroused,  their  local  interest  was  engaged,  and  the 
missionary  activities  of  both  the  Northern  and 
Southern  Baptists  were  largely  increased,  and  since 
that  time  have  gone  forward  harmoniously  and,  in 
some  instances  side  by  side,  with  always  increasing 
magnitude  and  power. 

Of  all  the  missionaries  under  appointment  by  the 
General  Convention  two,  the  Rev.  J.  Lewis  Shuck 
and  the  Rev.  I.  J.  Roberts,  of  China,  preferred  to 
continue  their  labors  under  the  auspices  of  the  newly 
formed  Southern  Convention.  Mr.  Roberts  was  lo- 
cated at  Canton,  where  Mr.  Shuck  had  already  been 
associated  with  him  ;  but  after  his  visit  to  America 
Mr.  Shuck  was  transferred  to  Shanghai,  where  he 
was  associated  with  that  missionary  afterward  so 
eminent  in  the  annals  of  the  Southern  Baptist  mis- 
sions, Matthew  T,  Yates,  d.  d.,  and  others. 


THE    SOUTHERN    BAPTIST    CONVENTION  59 

It  is  related  of  Mr.  Shack  that  shortly  after  his 
conversion  a  collection  for  missions  was  taken  in  the 
church  of  which  he  was  a  member.  After  the  col- 
lection, as  the  offering  was  being  counted,  there  was 
found  upon  the  plate  a  card  upon  which  was  written 
the  word  "  myself."  This  was  the  young  Christian 
convert's  first  offering  to  the  cause  of  missions,  and 
it  is  the  noblest  which  any  person  can  ever  make. 

The  Rev.  I.  J.  Roberts  had  first  gone  to  China 
in  1836,  to  be  supported  on  the  basis  of  a  fund  sup- 
posed to  amount  to  about  thirty  thousand  dollars, 
which  he  had  himself  given  into  the  hands  of  the 
Kentucky  China  Mission  Society,  formed  for  the 
purpose.  As  the  income  of  the  fund  failed  to  pro- 
vide his  support  he  joined  the  staff  of  the  General 
Convention,  but  was  soon  transferred  to  the  South- 
ern Board.  Mr.  Roberts  was  a  man  of  unques- 
tioned Christian  devotion,  but  of  somewhat  erratic 
and  peculiar  character.  While  laboring  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Southern  Board  he  yet  continued  in 
a  semi-independent  relation  to  the  other  missionaries 
at  Canton,  the  property  which  he  occupied  having 
been  acquired  by  means  raised  by  himself.  Yet  his 
labors  were  generally  successful  and  continued  with 
a  reasonable  degree  of  harmony,  until  finally  his  re- 
lations with  the  Convention  were  dissolved  in  1852. 
He,  however,  continued  his  mission  work  independ- 
ently. Wang,  the  leader  of  the  great  Taiping  re- 
bellion, had  studied  with  Mr.  Roberts  in  his  mission 
school  at  Canton,  and  after  the  breaking  out  of  that 


60  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

rebellion  Mr.  Roberts  visited  the  leader  in  bis  camp. 
He  was  by  him  appointed  as  foreign  minister  of  the 
Taiping  government  in  1860,  and  it  was  probably 
through  his  influence  that  a  decree  was  issued  by 
the  rebel  government  abolishing  idolatry.  In  the 
time-honored  literary  examinations  it  was  decreed 
also  that  Bible  themes  should  be  substituted  for 
Confucian  subjects,  and  in  this  and  other  ways  the 
leader  showed  his  contempt  for  the  ancient  ideas 
which  had  ruled  China,  and  his  desire  to  inaugurate 
a  new  order  of  affairs.  He  sought  the  friendship 
of  foreign  nations ;  and  it  has  always  been  a  ques- 
tion whether  the  future  of  China  would  not  have 
been  greatly  advanced  by  the  success  of  the  rebel- 
lion. It  may  be  that  with  all  his  conscientiousness 
General  Gordon  committed  the  great  mistake  of  his 
life  in  aiding  to  subdue  the  army  of  the  Taiping 
rebels.  It  had  become  evident  that  without  for- 
eign aid  the  rebellion  would  be  successful,  and  it 
is  possible  that  if  the  hands  of  the  foreign  troops 
had  been  withheld,  thirty-five  years  ago,  China 
would  have  been  farther  advanced  in  the  arts  and 
sciences  of  civilization  as  well  as  in  receptivity 
toward  the  truths  of  Christianity  than  she  was  in 
1 900,  and  the  troubles  of  that  year  would  not  have 
occurred.  After  a  time,  however,  Mr.  Roberts 
quarreled  with  the  leader  of  the  rebellion  and 
turned  against  him.  The  whole  career  of  this  mis- 
sionary was  of  the  most  romantic  and  thrilling  char- 
acter, from  the  devotion  of  his  whole  property  to 


THE   SOUTHERN    BAPTIST    CONVENTION  61 

the  missionary  work,  as  a  young  man,  to  his  death 
at  Upper  Alton,  Illinois,  Dec.  28,  1871,  of  leprosy, 
contracted  while  ministering  to  the  unfortunate  vic- 
tims of  that  terrible  disease. 

The  principal  stations  of  the  Southern  Baptist 
mission  in  China  were  located  in  the  midst  of  the 
scenes  of  the  Taiping  rebellion,  at  Canton  and 
Shanghai,  and  shared  in  the  vicissitudes  of  that 
contest.  They  were  never  molested,  however,  by 
the  leaders  of  the  rebellion  and  experienced  much 
prosperity  in  the  places  in  which  they  held  control. 
Rev.  R.  H.  Graves,  m.  d.,  was  for  many  years  the 
leader  of  the  work  in  Canton,  rendering  eminent 
services  in  evangelistic,  literary,  and  in  educational 
work  in  training  native  assistants  in  the  mission. 
The  most  eminent  figure  in  the  mission  at  Shanghai 
continued  to  be  M.  T.  Yates,  D.  D.  An  interesting 
and  singular  physical  phenomenon  is  recorded  of 
Doctor  Yates.  He  went  to  China  at  the  age  of 
twenty-seven.  During  his  first  stay  of  several  years 
in  China  he  gained  one  inch  in  height ;  during  his 
second  stay  he  gained  two  inches  more,  making 
three  inches  in  stature  gained  after  the  age  of 
twenty-seven.  His  physical  proportions  in  other 
directions  increased  correspondingly.  This  could 
hardly  have  been  considered  as  a  testimony  to  the 
unhealthfulness  of  missionary  life  in  China. 

From  1860  to  1865  the  China  mission,  in  common 
with  other  missions  of  the  Southern  Baptists,  were 
embarrassed  by  wars  both  in  China  and  in  the  United 


62  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

States.  During  these  troublous  times  the  mission- 
aries showed  great  heroism  and  self-denial.  They 
declared  that  even  if  funds  were  entirely  cut  oif  the 
mission  should  be  continued,  and  some  of  the  mis- 
sionaries pursued  their  labors  for  several  years  with 
but  scanty  and  occasional  remittances  from  the 
Board  in  this  country. 

Soon  after  the  formation  of  the  Southern  Conven- 
tion it  began  operations  in  the  Republic  of  Liberia. 
The  work  was  carried  on  chiefly  by  Negroes,  the 
few  white  missionories  sent  to  that  country  not  being 
able  to  remain  because  of  the  failure  of  health. 
The  mission,  however,  had  a  large  prosperity, 
twenty-four  mission  stations  being  established  and 
continued,  and  about  one  thousand  five  hundred 
converts  being  gathered  into  the  churches.  Sierra 
Leone  was  occupied  by  missionaries  in  1855,  but 
was  soon  abandoned.  A  mission  was  established 
in  Yoruba,  a  country  in  the  interior  from  the  gold 
coast  of  Africa,  in  1849,  which  had  gained  some 
success,  but  was  necessarily  closed  on  account  of  the 
opposition  of  the  chiefs  in  the  interior  from  1870  to 
1875.  At  the  latter  date  the  missionary  work  of 
the  Southern  Board  in  the  Republic  of  Liberia  was 
discontinued.  Rev.  W.  J.  David  and  Rev.  W.  W. 
Colley  were  transferred  from  that  field  to  the  Yoruba 
mission,  which  was  then  reopened,  and  has  been 
continued  in  an  era  of  prosperity  and  blessing. 

The  Southern  Baptists  entered  the  city  of  Rome 
almost  in  the  train  of  the  victorious  army  of  Victor 


THE   SOUTHERN    BAPTIST   CONVENTION         63 

Emmanuel,  in  the  person  of  Rev.  Win.  N.  Cote,  M. 
D.,  of  Paris.  Doctor  Cote  established  himself  in 
the  imperial  city,  and  his  labors  at  once  received  the 
approval  of  the  Lord.  A  church  was  formed  in 
January,  1871,  and  much  prosperity  was  experienced 
here  and  in  the  city  of  Bari,  on  the  coast  of  the 
Adriatic,  where  a  church  of  seventy-five  members 
was  baptized  in  one  day.  Funds  to  the  amount  of 
about  twenty-seven  thousand  dollars  were  raised  in 
this  country,  by  which  a  chapel  was  built  in  the  city 
of  Rome  under  the  auspices  of  George  B.  Taylor, 
D.  D.,  for  many  years  the  superintendent  of  the 
Baptist  mission  in  Italy.  This  became  one  of  the 
foremost  agencies  for  the  evangelization  of  the 
people  in  that  country,  having  prosperous  and  suc- 
cessful churches  at  Rome,  Florence,  Naples,  and 
other  cities  in  the  Italian  peninsula. 

The  beginning  of  Southern  Baptist  mission  work 
in  South  America  was  marked  by  one  of  the  most 
striking  incidents  of  Christian  devotion  to  be  found 
in  the  history  of  the  church.  Lough  Fook,  con- 
verted in  the  Baptist  church  in  Canton,  China,  went 
to  Demarara  with  a  heart  burning  with  zeal  for  the 
salvation  of  his  people,  who  were  in  practical  slavery 
in  that  city.  Finding  himself  unable  to  reach  them 
otherwise  he  sold  himself  into  slavery  in  order  that 
he  might  more  freely  preach  the  gospel  among  them. 
This  was  in  1861.  In  a  short  time  a  Baptist  church 
was  formed,  the  first  in  South  America,  which  rap- 
idly grew  until  it  numbered  one  hundred  and  fifty- 


64  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

six  members.  In  one  year  they  raised  four  hundred 
dollars  for  missionary  purposes,  besides  supporting 
their  own  religious  work,  and  maintained  for  several 
years  a  missionary  to  China.  This  consecrated 
servant  of  the  Lord,  Lough  Fook,  died  in  May, 
1884.  Dr.  R.  H.  Graves,  of  Canton,  calls  him 
"  one  of  the  brightest  jewels  that  Christianity  re- 
covered from  the  dust  heaps  in  China." 

In  1850  the  Southern  Convention  voted  to  es- 
tablish missions  in  Central  and  South  America,  and 
continued  to  consider  the  matter  until  18G0,  when 
Rev.  T.  J.  Bowen,  founder  of  the  Yoruba  mission, 
was  transferred  to  Brazil,  since  his  health  would  not 
allow  of  his  return  to  Africa.  His  strength  proved 
insufficient,  however,  for  missionary  labors  in  Brazil, 
and  the  mission  was  abandoned  in  1861.  In  1871 
citizens  from  the  Southern  States,  living  in  Sao 
Paulo,  formed  a  Baptist  church,  and  the  Southern 
Baptist  mission  in  Brazil  was  opened  in  1879  in 
response  to  an  application  from  this  new  church,  not 
for  help  for  themselves,  but  for  missionaries  to  the 
people  of  Brazil.  Churches  have  been  formed  at 
Santa  Barbara,  Rio  Janeiro,  Bahia,  and  other  places. 
At  times  there  has  been  much  freedom  in  missionary 
work,  and  at  other  times  the  mission  has  suffered 
from  severe  persecution.  This,  however,  has  dis- 
appeared, except  in  limited  areas  in  the  interior,  and 
the  Baptist  missions  have  experienced  large  pros- 
perity. The  church  in  Rio  Janeiro  especially  has 
been  greatly  prospered  in  membership  and  in  spir- 


THE    SOUTHERN    BAPTIST    CONVENTION  65 

itual  power  and  influence  among;  the  people  of  that 
city. 

As  early  as  1860  the  Southern  Convention  con- 
templated missions  in  Japan,  and  Rev.  J.  Q.  A. 
Rohrer  and  his  wife  were  appointed  to  open  the 
work.  They  sailed  Aug.  3,  1860,  in  the  ship 
"  Edwin  Forrest/'  in  company  with  Rev.  A.  L. 
Bond  and  wife,  destined  for  the  China  mission. 
Mrs.  Robinson,  the  mother  of  Mrs.  Rohrer,  ac- 
companied her  daughter  on  board  the  "  Edwin 
Forrest."  The  ties  between  mother  and  daughter 
had  been  peculiarly  close  and  tender,  and  the  mother 
was  expecting  to  sail  in  a  short  time  to  rejoin  her 
daughter  in  Japan.  Before  saying  farewell  she 
knelt  in  agony  on  the  deck  of  the  vessel  and  prayed 
that  God  would  forgive  her  for  consenting  to  even 
a  temporary  separation  from  her  only  child.  Mrs. 
Rohrer  replied,  in  what  proved  to  be  prophetic 
words  :  "  Mother,  with  the  exception  of  parting  from 
you,  this  is  the  happiest  day  of  my  life.  If  we  are 
lost  at  sea  death  will  find  us  in  the  path  of  duty." 
The  ship  was  never  heard  from  after  sailing ;  and 
in  the  history  of  the  Southern  Baptist  missions  this 
disaster  is  one  of  the  most  touching  and  pathetic 
incidents,  associated  with  the  loss  of  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
J.  S.  James,  who  were  drowned  by  the  capsizing  of 
a  schooner  while  entering  the  harbor  of  Hongkong. 
The  question  of  the  mission  in  Japan  was  held  in 
abeyance  from  this  time  until  1889,  when  mission- 
aries were  sent  to  that  country,  who  have  established 


Qti  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

themselves  at  several  points,  and  labor  in  harmony 
and  co-operation  with  the  previously  established 
missions  of  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union. 

The  Southern  Baptist  Mission  in  Mexico  was 
founded  in  1880,  and  as  in  many  other  cases,  its 
initiation  was  attended  by  disaster.  The  Rev.  John 
O.  Westrup,  who  with  his  brother,  Rev.  T.  M. 
Westrup,  had  been  supported  in  Coahuila  by  the 
Texas  Baptist  State  Convention,  were  accepted  by 
the  foreign  Board  of  the  Southern  Convention  in 
1880.  In  December  of  that  year,  however,  Rev. 
John  O.  Westrup  was  murdered  by  a  band  of  Indians 
and  Mexicans,  and  the  work  was  left  in  the  hands 
of  his  brother,  Rev.  T.  M.  Westrup.  Other  mis- 
sionaries were  appointed  at  later  dates  and  the  mis- 
sion in  Mexico,  with  that  of  the  Northern  Baptists, 
has  experienced  considerable  prosperity. 

One  of  the  most  romantic  and  deeply  interesting 
missions  under  the  auspices  of  American  Baptists 
is  that  founded  in  the  city  of  Havana,  Cuba,  by 
Albert  Jose  Diaz,  and  carried  on  chiefly  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Home  Mission  Board  of  the  South- 
ern Baptist  Convention. 

Mr.  Diaz,  a  native  of  Cuba,  having  received  a 
liberal  education  in  the  university  of  Havana,  in  both 
the  academic  and  medical  departments,  was  estab- 
lished as  a  successful  physician  in  his  native  island. 
His  natural  heroism  and  enthusiasm  led  him  to 
identify  himself  with  the  insurgents  against  Spanish 
rule  in  Cuba,  among  whom  he  rose  to  the  rank  of 


THE   SOUTHERN    BAPTIST   CONVENTION         67 

captain ;  but  with  the  temporary  defeat  of  that 
movement  he  was  compelled  to  escape  to  America. 
No  other  means  of  fleeing  offering  he  was  obliged 
to  leave  his  native  shores  with  the  simple  support 
of  a  plank.  He  narrowly  escaped  drowning,  but 
after  twenty-six  hours  of  drifting  was  taken  -up  by 
a  fishing  vessel  and  carried  to  New  York  City, 
where  an  illness  from  pneumonia  came  upon  him. 
In  the  hospital  he  was  cared  for  by  a  devout  Chris- 
tian woman,  by  whose  means  he  was  led  to  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  Saviour.  After  the  rebellion  was  over 
and  amnesty  proclaimed,  Mr.  Diaz  returned  to 
Havana,  but  was  rejected  by  his  family,  and  soon 
again  returned  to  America,  where  he  was  baptized 
in  the  Gethsemane  Baptist  Church,  Brooklyn.  He 
first  applied  to  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission 
Society  to  send  him  back  as  a  missionary  to  Cuba, 
but  his  request  was  declined  for  lack  of  funds,  and 
he  was  accepted  as  a  missionary  by  the  Woman's 
Bible  Society,  of  Philadelphia,  and  returned  to 
Cuba  in  1883.  His  work,  however,  was  soon 
transferred  to  the  Home  Mission  Board  of  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention,  under  which  it  has 
been  mainly  continued.  A  large  number  of  con- 
verts rewarded  his  early  labors  and  in  1889  the 
Jane  Theatre,  of  Havana,  was  purchased  for  mis- 
sion work  at  a  cost  of  sixty-five  thousand  dollars, 
the  original  cost  being  one  hundred  and  forty  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  was  dedicated  as  the  Gethsemane 
Baptist  Church.     This   has  been   the  center  of  a 


68  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

work  of  remarkable  extent  and  interest,  between 
two  and  three  thousand  members  being  gathered 
into  the  Gethsemane  Church  and  its  branches.  The 
work  also  extended  to  other  parts  of  Cuba  outside 
of  Havana,  and  it  was  reported  at  one  time  that 
there  were  as  many  as  twenty  native  missionaries, 
seven  churches,  and  twenty  stations. 

The  success  of  the  work  excited  the  hostility  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  bishop  and  priests,  and  Mr. 
Diaz,  as  well  as  several  other  of  the  missionaries, 
were  imprisoned  at  various  times,  but  were  soon 
released  on  application  to  the  United  States  Consul. 
During  the  war  between  Spain  and  Cuba,  Mr. 
Diaz  was  prominent  in  the  establishment  of  Red 
Cross  stations  for  the  care  of  the  wounded  of  each 
army.  He  was,  however,  imprisoned,  and  released 
only  on  his  promise  to  leave  the  island  ;  but  after 
the  intervention  of  the  United  States  in  behalf  of 
the  Cubans  he  was  appointed  on  the  staff  of  the 
commanding  general,  and  rendered  great  service  as 
an  interpreter.  Since  the  war  and  the  release  of 
Cuba  from  Spanish  rule  Mr.  Diaz  has  returned  to 
his  native  island.  The  missionary  work  was  com- 
pletely disorganized  during  the  two  successive  wars, 
but  is  now  being  re-established.  By  agreement 
between  the  Home  Mission  Board  of  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention  and  the  American  Baptist  Home 
Mission  Society  the  island  of  Cuba  is  divided,  the 
Southern  Board  retaining  the  west  part  of  the  island, 
including  the  city  of  Havana,  and  the  towns  which 


THE   SOUTHERN    BAPTIST   CONVENTION  69 

have  been  the  theatre  of  its  previous  successful  work, 
and  the  Home  Mission  Society  taking  as  its  fields 
the  two  eastern  provinces  and  Porto  Rico.  Further 
accounts  of  the  work  may  be  found  in  the  appropri- 
ate chapters. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONARY    UNION 

THE  eleventh  triennial  meeting  of  the  General 
Missionary  Convention  held  in  Philadelphia, 
Pa.,  in  April,  1844,  adjourned  to  meet  in  due  course 
in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  in  April,  1847,  and  the  thirty- 
first  annual  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Managers, 
which  was  held  in  Providence,  R.  L,  in  April,  1845, 
adjourned  to  meet  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  in  May,  1846. 
Stirring  events  caused  an  early  change  in  this  pro- 
gramme. Soon  after  the  meeting  of  the  Board  in 
1845  the  action  of  the  Baptists  of  the  South  in  the 
formation  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  be- 
came known,  and  a  special  meeting  of  the  General 
Convention  was  called,  which  assembled  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  November  20,  1845.  At  this  meet- 
ing a  new  constitution  was  provisionally  adopted, 
and  arrangements  were  made  for  obtaining  an  act 
from  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  changing  the 
name  of  the  Convention  to  "  The  American  Baptist 
Missionary  Union,"  and  also  for  procuring  an  act 
of  incorporation  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts  under 
the  same  title.  At  an  adjourned  meeting  of  the 
Convention  held  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  May  19,  1846, 
the  Acting  Board  reported  that  these  measures  had 
70 


THE  AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MISSIONARY  UNION    71 

been  secured,  and  the  Convention  adopted  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions  : 

Resolved,  That  this  Convention  do  now  accept  the  Act 
of  Incorporation  granted  by  the  Legislature  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, March  13,  1846,  entitled  "An  Act  changing  the 
name  of  the  Association  known  as  'The  General  Con- 
vention of  the  Baptist  Denomination  in  the  United 
States  for  Foreign  Missions  and  other  important  objects 
relating  to  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,'  to  that  of  'The 
American  Baptist  Missionary  Union,'  and  for  altering 
and  amending  the  charter  of  the  same,"  and  that  the 
same  be  recorded  on  the  records  of  the  Convention. 

Resolved,  That  this  Convention  do  now  accept  an  Act 
of  the  Legislature  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massa- 
chusetts, passed  March  25,  1846,  entitled  "An  Act  to 
authorize  the  General  Convention  of  the  Baptist  Denom- 
ination in  the  United  States  for  Foreign  Missions  and 
other  important  objects  relating  to  the  Redeemer's 
kingdom,  to  take  and  use  the  name  of  'The  American 
Bnptist  Missionary  Union,'  and  to  define  more  clearly 
the  purpose,  rights,  and  powers  of  the  said  Corporation," 
and  that  the  same  be  recorded  on  the  records  of  the 
Convention. 

The  Convention  then  adjourned  to  meet  on  the 
following  Thursday,  May  21,  for  organization  under 
the  new  constitution  and  name,  when  the  following 
preamble  and  resolution  were  adopted  : 

Whereas,  In  pursuance  of  the  recommendation  of  the 
committee  on  legal  questions  in  their  report  accepted  by 
the  General  Convention  at  its  evening  session,  on  Thurs- 
day, November  20,  1S45,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  cer- 
tain resolutions  in  said  report,  numbered  five  and  six, 


72  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

were  adopted  by  said  Convention  ;  and  Whereas,  Such 
resolutions  predicate  that  a  certain  constitution  at  such 
time  conditionally  adopted,  and  a  certain  organization 
and  election  of  managers  then  conditionally  made, 
should  become  unconditional  and  definitive  on  the  pro- 
cural  of  certain  legislative  acts ;  and,  further,  Said  reso- 
lutions provide  for  a  transfer  in  such  case  of  all  books, 
records,  property,  rights,  interests,  and  duties,  from  said 
Triennial  Convention  to  the  American  Baptist  Mission- 
ary Union  ;  and  Whereas,  Such  legislative  acts  have,  by 
the  blessing  of  Divine  Providence,  been  procured  ;  there- 
fore, 

Resolved,  That  in  as  far  as  such  transfer  may  be  now 
necessary,  the  transfer  be  and  hereby  is  made,  to  the  full 
extent  recommended  in  such  fifth  and  sixth  resolutions ; 
that  the  constitution  adopted  conditionally,  be  and  here- 
by is  adopted  unconditionally  and  definitively  ;  that  the 
election  then  made  conditionally  be  now  regarded  as  un- 
conditional, and  the  persons  so  elected  take  office  from 
this  time. 

Undismayed  by  the  loss  of  the  sympathy  and  help 
of  their  brethren  in  the  South  the  Baptists  of  the 
Northern  States  took  up  the  work  of  foreign  mis- 
sions with  renewed  energy  and  zeal.  The  receipts 
of  the  society  advanced  from  eighty-two  thousand 
three  hundred  and  two  dollars  and  ninety-five  cents 
in  1845,  to  one  hundred  thousand  two  hundred  and 
nineteen  dollars  and  ninety-four  cents  in  1846,  and 
continued  to  average  more  than  fifteen  thousand 
dollars  in  excess  of  the  last  years  of  united  action 
until  in  1851  they  reached  the  sum  of  one  hundred 
and  eighteen  thousand  seven  hundred  and  twenty- 


THE  AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MISSIONARY  UNION    73 

six  dollars  and  thirty-five  cents,  and  thereafter  never 
fell  below  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  except  in 
1857,  the  year  of  the  greatest  financial  depression 
this  country  has  ever  known,  and  in  1861  and  1862, 
the  opening  years  of  the  Civil  War.  When  the  for- 
eign mission  activity  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Board 
is  considered  also,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  separation 
of  the  Baptists  of  this  country,  however  much  to  be 
deplored  in  other  respects,  acted  as  an  incentive 
rather  than  a  check  to  their  missionary  efforts. 

Much  of  the  credit  for  the  large  receipts  of  the 
Missionary  Convention  under  its  new  name,  the 
American  Baptist  Missionary  Union,  must  be  ac- 
corded to  Edward  Bright,  D.  d.,  the  corresponding 
secretary  for  the  Home  Department  from  1846  to 
1855.  Appreciating  the  vast  responsibility  which 
the  Baptists  of  the  Northern  States  had  assumed  in 
undertaking  practically  the  entire  support  of  the 
foreign  missionary  work  as  already  established,  he 
perceived  the  necessity  of  more  systematic  and  reg- 
ular methods  of  increasing  the  interest  and  gather- 
ing funds  than  had  hitherto  prevailed.  Up  to  this 
time  the  natural  response  of  the  Baptists  of  America 
to  the  impulse  of  obedience  to  the  last  command  of 
the  Saviour,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach 
the  gospel  to  every  creature,"  had  been  sufficient  to 
supply  and  sometimes  run  beyond  the  needs  of  the 
missions.  Doctor  Bright  understood  clearly  that  the 
partial  impulse  of  enthusiasm  aroused  by  the  new 
sense  of  responsibility  thrown  upon  the  Baptists  of 


74  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

the  North  would  not  be  sufficient  to  carry  on  and 
enlarge  the  missions  as  their  increasing  needs  would 
demand.  He  therefore  applied  himself  vigorously 
to  the  inauguration  of  systematic  plans  of  benefi- 
cence and  thorough  arrangements  for  the  conduct 
of  the  home  work  of  the  Missionary  Union.  His 
papers  presented  at  the  annual  meetings  of  the 
Union  indicated  wise  and  prudent  foresight  and  a 
clear  understanding  of  the  fundamental  principles 
of  Christian  benevolence.  These  papers  are  still 
classics  on  the  subject  of  the  development  of  mis- 
sionary interest  and  giving  among  the  home  churches, 
and  the  methods  which  he  inaugurated  and  the  prin- 
ciples upon  which  they  were  founded  have  had  an 
abiding  influence  upon  the  home  work  of  the  Union 
which  continues  even  to  the  present  time. 

Previous  to  the  withdrawal  of  the  Southern  Bap- 
tists from  the  General  Missionary  Convention,  a 
movement  had  started  in  Burma  which  was  des- 
tined to  have  a  profound  and  lasting  influence  not 
only  upon  the  future  of  the  missionary  work  in  that 
country,  but  upon  Christian  missionary  operations 
throughout  the  world.  In  the  itinerancy  of  missions 
aries  and  native  preachers  from  Rangoon  through- 
out the  Bassein  district  an  extraordinary  interest 
in  Christianity  had  been  aroused,  and  a  leading 
native  chief  having  become  a  convert,  had  also 
become  a  leader  and  inspirer  of  his  people  in  the 
movement  toward  Christianity.  Rev.  Elisha  L. 
Abbott  had  been  first  designated  to  the  Telugu  mis- 


THE  AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MISSIONARY  UNION    75 

sion  in  India,  but  was  assigned  to  the  Karen  mission 
while  on  the  voyage  out  with  Doetor  Malcom  and 
his  company.  He  entered  into  this  movement  with 
great  vigor.  As  usual  in  such  cases,  the  Burman 
Government,  which  had  viewed  with  comparative 
indifference  the  small  beginnings  of  the  mission, 
now  became  roused  as  hundreds  of  the  Karens 
turned  toward  Christianity,  and  it  instituted  most 
vigorous  measures  for  the  suppression  of  this  new 
movement,  which  to  the  ignorant  Burman  officials 
seemed  to  threaten  the  overthrow  not  only  of 
their  religion,  but  even  of  their  political  power. 
Hundreds  of  the  Karens  were  imprisoned,  killed, 
and  driven  from  their  homes,  and  the  measures 
against  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  by  the  mission- 
aries and  natives  preachers  were  so  vigorously  en- 
forced that  it  was  found  impossible  to  carry  on 
direct  missionary  work  in  the  district.  Under  these 
circumstances  Mr.  Abbott  arranged  to  meet  some  of 
the  leaders  of  the  Karens  in  Sandoway,  in  the  Ara- 
kan  district,  which  was  under  the  rule  of  the  British 
Government.  To  him  here  came  not  only  the 
leaders,  but  many  thousands  of  the  Karen  Christians, 
with  others  who  were  inquiring  the  way  of  life. 
As  many  as  two  thousand  were  baptized  in  a  single 
year,  and  the  movement  became  not  merely  an  im- 
migration of  a  small  scattered  body  of  disciples,  but 
the  migration  of  a  people  driven  from  the  Burman 
dominions  into  the  province  of  Arakan.  The  entire 
depopulation  of  the  Bassein  district  was  threatened, 


76  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

and  at  last  the  Burman  officials,  finding  themselves 
defeated,  and  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  the  loss  of 
so  many  thousands  of  their  subjects,  abandoned  their 
persecution  and  permitted  the  converts  to  return 
and  dwell  in  peace  at  their  homes.  Under  these 
more  favorable  conditions  the  movement  toward 
Christianity  still  continued  with  power,  and  the 
headquarters  of  the  mission  were  removed  from  San- 
doway,  in  Arakan,  to  Bassein,  in  1852.  This  became 
the  center  of  and  gave  the  name  to  the  great  Bassein 
Sgaw-Kareu  Mission,  which  has  always  stood  first 
among  the  missions  in  Burma  in  numbers  and  in 
self-support.  As  early  in  the  history  of  the  mission 
as  1849,  the  native  preachers  adopted  a  resolution 
that  they  would  not  receive  any  further  money 
from  America,  and  this  rule  has  prevailed  in  the 
mission  to  the  present  day.  So  that  the  Bassein  Ka- 
ren mission  not  only  became  the  foremost  mission 
in  self-support,  but  its  influence  has  gone  abroad 
and  been  felt  upon  every  mission  field  throughout 
the  world,  and  has  been  to  the  present  day  the 
chief  illustration  and  example  of  the  possibility  and 
benefit  of  self-support,  self-direction,  and  self-prop- 
agation in  Christian  missions.  Mr.  Abbott  was 
succeeded  in  the  mission  by  Rev.  John  S.  Beecher, 
Rev.  Henry  L.  Van  Meter,  Rev.  Chapin  H.  Car- 
penter, and  others  fully  in  sympathy  with  the  prin- 
ciples early  prevailing  in  the  mission,  and  under 
the  leadership  of  these  and  other  men  these  methods 
and  principles  have  continued  to  the  present  time. 


THE  AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MISSIONARY  UNION    77 

The  enlargement  of  missionary  operations  in 
Burma  had  for  some  time  indicated  the  propriety 
of  some  common  methods  in  the  missionary  work, 
and  this  great  necessity  was  accentuated  by  the 
result  of  the  second  Burman  war,  by  which,  on  De- 
cember 20,  1852,  the  whole  province  of  Pegu,  com- 
prising the  larger  part  of  lower  Burma  was  declared 
a  portion  of  British  territories  in  the  East.  By 
this  event  the  largest  and  most  populous  territory 
in  lower  Burma  was  thrown  open  to  missionary 
operations,  and  the  executive  committee  of  the  Union 
at  once  appropriated  fifteen  thousand  dollars  for  en- 
larged operations.  For  consultation  with  the  mis- 
sionaries in  regard  to  the  enlargement,  and  also  to 
attempt  to  settle  certain  questions  which  had  been 
under  consideration  for  some  years,  a  deputation 
consisting  of  Solomon  Peck,  d.  d.,  the  corresponding 
secretary  of  the  Missionary  Union  for  the  Foreign 
Department,  and  James  N.  Granger,  d.  d.,  of  Provi- 
dence, R.  I.,  sailed  from  America  in  October,  1852. 
To  meet  the  deputation  a  general  convention  of  all 
the  missionaries  in  Burma  met  in  Moulmein,  April 
4,  1853,  and  continued  its  sessions  for  six  weeks. 
All  the  conditions  of  missionary  labor  in  Burma 
were  fully  considered,  and  the  measures  adopted  at 
this  convention  have  had  a  profound  and  decisive 
influence  upon  missionary  operations  in  that  country. 
As  a  result  of  these  deliberations  three  new  stations, 
Henzada,  Toungoo,  and  Shwegyin,  were  opened  in 
1853,  followed  by  the  establishment  of  a  station  at 


78  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

Prome  in  1854,  and  one  at  Thongze  in  1855.  By 
this  advance  movement  the  newly  opened  territory 
was  fully  occupied,  as  far  as  centers  of  influence 
were  concerned,  and  no  further  stations  were  opened 
in  Burma  for  a  period  of  twenty-one  years.  The 
policy  of  centralization,  which  had  begun  to  prevail 
in  the  mission,  was  thoroughly  broken  up  by  this 
distribution  of  the  missionary  force  among  the  old 
and  new  stations,  and  while  some  of  the  decisions  of 
the  convention,  especially  in  regard  to  schools,  have 
necessarily  been  modified  by  the  results  of  ex-peri- 
ence,  yet  this  convention  must  be  considered  as  one 
of  the  most  important  and  influential  events  in  the 
history  of  the  Baptist  missions  in  Burma. 

Under  the  stress  of  the  commercial  depression  of 
1857,  the  income  of  the  Missionary  Union  was  re- 
duced to  ninety-seven  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
eight  dollars  and  seventy-seven  cents,  as  given  in 
the  Annual  Report  for  1858,  and  only  two  years 
passed  before  the  country  was  plunged  into  the  ex- 
citement and  distraction  which  culminated  in  the 
dreadful  Civil  War  of  1861-1865.  In  common 
with  all  charitable  and  religious  enterprises,  except 
those  connected  with  the  war,  the  Missionary  Union 
suffered  greatly  in  the  loss  of  income  and  inter- 
est. The  energies  of  the  people  of  the  whole  United 
States  were  directed  to  the  prosecution  of  the  strug- 
gle between  the  North  and  the  South  in  a  contest 
unparalleled  in  the  vast  expenditures  of  money  and 
of  life.      The    funds  and    the    sympathies   of  the 


THE  AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MISSIONARY  UNION    79 

charitable  were  largely  absorbed  in  support  of  the 
Christian  and  the  Sanitary  Commissions,  for  the 
care  and  comfort  of  the  soldiers,  and  the  income  of 
the  Missionary  Union  dropped  to  a  lower  figure 
than  it  had  touched  since  1845,  being  only  eighty- 
four  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-three  dollars 
and  ninety-three  cents  in  1861,  and  eighty-five 
thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety-two  dollars  and 
twenty-six  cents  in  1862.  It  is  not  surprising  to 
find  that  on  none  of  the  mission  fields  was  there 
any  notable  advance  during  these  years  of  financial 
dearth.  However,  the  receipts  of  the  society  rap- 
idly recovered  to  one  hundred  and  three  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  fifty-six  dollars  and  ninety-six 
cents  in  1863  and  rose  in  1865  to  the  highest 
mark  attained  in  its  history,  one  hundred  and 
fifty-two  thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty-five 
dollars.  Since  that  time  the  growth  of  the  in- 
come of  the  society  has  been  rapid  and  steady,  pass- 
ing two  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  1870,  three 
hundred  thousand  dollars  in  1882,  four  hundred 
thousand  dollars  in  1890,  and  reaching  a  normal 
annual  average  of  above  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars  previous  to  1900.  Under  the  stimulus 
of  this  large  and  liberal  support  and  by  the 
blessing  of  the  Lord,  the  missions  of  the  society 
on  all  the  fields  have  experienced  a  like  rapid 
growth,  and  although  standing  the  eighth  among 
the  large  missionary  societies  of  the  world,  in  the 
amount  of  its  annual  receipts  and  expenditures,  the 


80  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

American  Baptist  Missionary  Union  has  long  been 
first  in  the  number  of  Christians  in  the  churches  on 
its  mission  fields,  and  its  work  has  been  blessed 
with  surprising  success,  as  will  be  related  in  connec- 
tion with  accounts  of  Baptist  missions  in  the  various 
countries  of  the  world. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE   AMERICAN    BAPTIST    PUBLICATION    SOCIETY 

IT  is  deeply  significant  to  note  that  as  the  foreign 
missionary  movement  had  been  the  source  of 
the  first  general  denominational  society  among  the 
Baptists  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  establish- 
ment of  the  first  educational  institution  looking  to 
all  the  Baptists  of  the  country  for  support,  so  the 
leaders  in  foreign  missions  were  among  the  first  to 
assist  in  founding  the  second  national  Baptist  so- 
ciety. The  first  two  names  signed  to  the  call  for  a 
meeting  to  form  "  The  Baptist  General  Tract  So- 
ciety," were  William  Staughton,  the  corresponding 
secretary,  and  Luther  Rice,  the  general  agent  of  the 
Baptist  Missionary  Convention.  This  meeting  was 
held  at  the  house  of  Mr.  George  Wood,  in  the  city 
of  Washington,  D.  C,  February  25,  1824,  and  re- 
sulted in  the  organization  of  a  society  under  the 
above  name  "  for  the  publication  and  distribution  of 
evangelical  tracts."  Mr.  Wood  was  chosen  the  first 
agent,  and  the  depository  was  in  the  office  of  "  The 
Columbian  Star,"  first  in  charge  of  Mr.  John  S. 
Meehan,  and  later  of  Mr.  Baron  Stow,  then  a  stu- 
dent in  Columbian  College  and  afterward  widely 
known  as  pastor  in  Boston,  Mass.,  and  as  a  member 

F  81 


82  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

of  the  executive  committee  of  the  Missionary  Union 
for  many  years.  The  society  at  once  received  a 
cordial  welcome  from  the  denomination.  Its  receipts 
for  the  first  year  were  three  hundred  and  seventy- 
three  dollars  and  eighty  cents,  and  in  the  first  ten 
months  of  its  existence  eighty-five  thousand  copies 
of  nineteen  tracts  were  printed  and  distributed. 
The  next  year  the  receipts  were  doubled  and  the 
number  of  auxiliaries  increased  to  seventy-one.  In 
order  to  avail  itself  of  larger  facilities  for  printing, 
the  society  was  removed  in  December,  1826,  to  the 
city  of  Philadelphia,  where  it  has  since  remained, 
the  name  being  changed  in  1840  to  "The  American 
Baptist  Publication  and  Sunday-school  Society." 
For  the  sake  of  brevity  the  words  "  and  Sunday- 
school"  were  afterward  dropped  without  a  change 
in  the  purposes  of  the  society,  and  later  as  the  Bible 
work  of  the  whole  denomination  in  the  United  States 
came  into  its  hands  the  title  was  made  to  read,  "The 
American  Baptist  Publication  and  Bible  Society." 
This  addition  was  also  shortly  cancelled,  and  the 
title  remains  as  at  the  head  of  this  chapter. 

Although  the  chief  objects  of  the  Society  were  the 
publication  and  circulation  of  religious,  and  espe- 
cially of  Baptist,  literature  in  the  United  States,  it  has 
throughout  its  entire  history  afforded  large  and  gen- 
erous aid  to  Baptist  missions  in  other  lands.  In 
1832  an  appropriation  was  made  to  print  tracts  in 
the  Burmese  language  for  use  in  the  missionary 
work  in  Burma,  and  another  for  supplying  Christian 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    PUBLICATION    SOCIETY     So 

literature  to  the  Negro  Baptist  missionaries  in  Li- 
beria. In  1838,  among  the  special  objects  which 
the  society  had  in  view  were  the  republication  of 
the  life  of  Ann  H.  Judson,  the  publication  and  dis- 
tribution of  tracts  in  Germany,  and  the  raising  of  a 
fund  of  ten  thousand  dollars  for  the  publication  of 
Christian  literature  for  China.  These  objects  were 
not  immediately  attained,  but  they  indicate  the 
breadth  and  extent  of  the  ideas  of  the  management. 
The  year  1847  was  especially  marked  by  the  exten- 
sion of  the  work  of  the  society  abroad,  grants  of 
money  and  of  Christian  literature  being  recorded  to 
twelve  foreign  fields — Canada,  France,  Africa,  China, 
Burma,  the  West  Indies,  Germany,  Denmark,  Swe- 
den, Assam,  Greece,  and  South  America.  In  Ger- 
many the  aid  of  the  American  Baptist  Publication 
Society  had  been  especially  useful.  Tracts  furnished 
by  the  society  had  a  large  influence  in  confirming 
and  establishing  the  great  founder  of  the  German 
Baptist  mission  in  his  views,  and  the  grants  of  tracts 
made  to  him  were  freely  and  effectively  used  in 
spreading  the  knowledge  of  Baptist  principles  and 
practices  throughout  the  German  States  of  central 
Europe.  After  the  death  of  Doctor  Oncken  and  in 
a  special  emergency  in  the  German  mission,  his  suc- 
cessor, Philip  Bickel,  D.  D.,  was  sent  out  and  sus- 
tained for  six  years  by  the  society.  The  formation 
and  prosperity  of  the  German  Baptist  Publication 
Society  is  due  in  no  small  degree  to  the  example,  aid, 
and  inspiration  of  the  American  society. 


84  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

Other  countries  of  the  continent  of  Europe  also 
felt  the  helpful  and  uplifting  influence  of  the  society. 
In  Sweden  especially  was  its  work  fundamental  and 
important.  On  reading  some  of  the  Baptist  litera- 
ture scattered  broadcast  throughout  central  and 
northern  Europe  by  Doctor  Oncken,  Rev.  Andreas 
Wiberg,  a  minister  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  Swe- 
den, was  led  to  adopt  Baptist  views.  His  applica- 
tion to  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union  for 
appointment  as  a  missionary  was  declined,  and  in 
1855  Mr.  Wiberg  was  appointed  a  missionary  col- 
porter  by  the  Publication  Society.  This  change 
seemed  to  be  providential.  In  Sweden,  preaching 
not  in  accord  with  the  teachings  of  the  State  Lu- 
theran Church  was  at  that  time  forbidden,  but  the 
press  Avas  free.  As  a  missionary  pastor  or  evangelist 
Mr.  Wiberg  would  have  encountered  the  ban  of  the 
law,  but  as  a  missionary  colporter  and  translator  he 
was  technically  within  his  legal  rights.  A  large 
work  was  done  by  him  for  the  spread  of  Baptist 
views  in  Sweden,  second  only  to  the  phenomenal 
labors  of  Doctor  Oncken  in  the  German  States,  and 
when  the  Swedish  mission  was  turned  over  to  the 
Missionary  Union  in  I860  it  could  report  after  only 
eleven  years  of  labor,  one  hundred  and  seventy-six 
churches,  with  six  thousand  six  hundred  and  six 
members.  From  1882  to  1885  the  Publication  So- 
ciety supported  Rev.  Jonas  Stadling  as  a  missionary 
in  Sweden.  By  this  aid  Baptist  publication  work 
in  Sweden  was  established  on  a  firm  basis. 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    PUBLICATION    SOCIETY    85 

As  the  literature  sent  out  from  Germany  had  been 
the  means  of  opening  the  way  for  Baptist  missionary 
work  in  Sweden,  so  the  influence  of  Swedish  Baptist 
literature  passed  over  into  the  sister  State  of  Nor- 
wav,  a  country  which  also  felt  the  effects  of  the  Bap- 
tist movement  in  Denmark,  being  thus  the  meeting- 
place  of  two  currents  of  truth  which  harmoniously 
blended  into  one.  In  1900  the  American  society 
undertook  to  do  for  the  Baptist  cause  in  Norway 
what  it  had  already  done  for  the  missions  in  Ger- 
many and  Sweden.  A  Publication  Society's  secre- 
tary is  to  be  supported  until  the  Baptists  of  Norway 
are  well  established  in  publication  work  and  able  to 
assume  its  entire  support.  From  1872  to  1877  Rev. 
W.  C.  Van  Meter  was  supported  by  the  American 
Baptist  Publication  Society  as  a  Sunday-school  and 
evangelistic  missionary  in  Rome,  Italy.  Large 
amounts  of  Christian  literature  have  been  supplied 
to  the  Baptist  missions  in  France  and  Spain,  and 
whenever  opportunity  has  offered  the  Society  has 
not  been  wanting  in  willingness  to  assist  Baptist 
work  in  Europe  along  its  special  lines. 

Somewhat  aside  from  its  usual  methods  was  the 
mission  in  Turkey,  sustained  through  the  Publica- 
tion Society  from  1883  to  1891.  For  several  years 
previous  to  the  opening  of  this  work  great  pressure 
had  been  brought  to  bear  on  the  American  Baptist 
Missionary  Union  to  open  a  mission  among  the 
Armenians  of  Turkey  in  Asia.  Several  Armenian 
ministers,  formerly  connected  with  missions  of  other 


86  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

denominations,  had  visited  America  and  been  re- 
ceived into  Baptist  churches  in  New  York  City  and 
elsewhere,  and  there  was  a  desire  on  the  part  of 
many  to  send  them  back  as  missionaries  to  their 
own  people.  As  the  Missionary  Union  did  not  see 
its  way  clear  to  open  a  new  mission  in  Turkey,  the 
Publication  Society  agreed  to  become  the  medium 
through  which  those  wishing  to  support  these  mis- 
sionaries in  Turkey  could  transmit  funds,  but  as- 
sumed no  responsibility  beyond  the  amounts  contrib- 
uted specially  for  this  purpose.  Five  missionaries 
were  thus  maintained  for  several  years  until  in 
1891  the  mission,  interest  in  which  had  been  de- 
clining from  various  causes,  was  discontinued.  In 
other  foreign  fields,  however,  the  society  has  been 
an  efficient  and  active  helper  to  the  missionary 
work.  The  aid  of  the  society  was  a  large  factor  in 
founding  and  encouraging  the  Telugu  Baptist  Pub- 
lication Society  in  India. 

Grants  of  Bibles,  of  literature,  and  of  money 
have  been  numerous  on  nearly  all  the  mission  fields 
where  work  is  carried  on  by  the  Missionary  Union ; 
and  since  the  great  Bible  Convention  of  1883,  by 
special  agreement  between  the  Union  and  the  Pub- 
lication Society,  the  latter  has  become  the  chief 
agency  in  the  collection  of  funds  for  Bible  work 
from  Baptists  in  America,  sharing  a  proportion  of 
the  receipts  of  the  annual  "Bible  Day"  with  the 
Union,  and  also  with  the  Foreign  Mission  Board 
of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention.     From  time 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    PUBLICATION    SOCIETY    87 

to  time  also  grants  are  made  from  the  general  funds 
of  the  society.1 

Colporters  have  been  supported  in  Mexico,  which 
has  also  been  visited  by  one  of  the  six  "chapel 
cars,"  which  carry  on  so  useful  and  successful  a 
work  under  the  auspices  of  the  Publication  Society. 
Rev.  A.  J.  Diaz,  at  first  connected  with  the  Home 
Mission  Board  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention, 
during  the  war  between  Spain  and  the  United 
States,  in  1898,  labored  in  Mexico,  and  after  the 
close  of  the  war  returned  to  Cuba  and  labored  for 
a  time  under  the  direction  of  the  Publication  So- 
ciety. This  Society  has  been  and  must  continue  to 
be  the  chief  supplier  of  Bibles  and  Christian  litera- 
ture to  Baptist  missionaries  in  these  latest  conquests 
of  the  United  States,  as  well  as  in  Mexico  and  the 
home  States. 

1  See  "  Bible  Societies  and  American  Baptists,"  Bitting,  Amer- 
ican Baptist  Publication  Society. 


CHAPTER    IX 

THE    AMERICAN    BAPTIST    HOME    MISSION    SOCIETY 

THE  influence  of  the  foreign  missionary  move- 
ment on  the  development  of  Baptist  interests 
at  home  was  seen  in  the  formation  of  the  American 
Baptist  Home  Mission  Society.  While  the  General 
Missionary  Convention  itself  was  formed  by  the 
union  of  a  large  number  of  local  missionary  socie- 
ties, some  of  which  were  engaged  in  carrying  on 
home  mission  work,  and  while  the  Convention  took 
up  work  among  the  Indians  and  attempted  other 
home  mission  work  as  well  as  educational  work  in 
this  country,  it  was  soon  found  that  the  entire  ener- 
gies of  the  Convention  were  needed  for  the  main- 
tenance and  enlargement  of  the  foreign  mission 
work.  Therefore  its  educational  work  was  placed 
upon  an  independent  basis  and  the  missionary  work 
in  this  country  was  more  and  more  committed  to 
local  societies.  A  growing  conviction  was  felt 
among  the  Baptists  of  America  as  to  the  need  of  en- 
larged mission  work  at  home,  and  this  was  crystal- 
lized by  the  visit  of  Jonathan  Going,  d.  d.,  of  Wor- 
cester, Mass.,  to  the  West.  On  his  representations 
to  the  Massachusetts  Missionary  Society  steps  were 
taken  toward  a  united  and  enlarged  effort  for  domes- 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    HOME    MISSION    SOCIETY    89 

tic  missions.  The  deputation  appointed  to  consult 
with  the  New  York  Baptist  Missionary  Convention 
consisted  of  Daniel  Sharp,  D.  D.,  pastor  of  the  Charles 
Street  Church,  Boston,  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Foreign  Mission  Board,  Lucius  Bolles,  D.  d.,  cor- 
responding secretary  of  the  Foreign  Mission  Board, 
and  Jonathan  Going,  d.  d.  Their  representation 
met  with  a  cordial  response  from  the  New  York 
brethren  and  a  provisional  committee  was  formed, 
which  resulted  in  the  calling  of  a  general  meeting 
in  the  Mulberry  Street  Church  in  1832,  for  the 
formation  of  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission 
Society. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  this  meeting  was 
appointed  during  the  meeting  of  the  General  Mis- 
sionary Convention,  and  that  Convention  gave  up 
one  of  its  sessions  for  the  formation  of  the  Home 
Mission  Society.  The  first  president  of  the  Home 
Mission  Society  was  also  Hon.  Heman  Lincoln,  of 
Boston,  chairman  of  the  Executive  Board  of  the 
Foreign  Mission  Union  for  many  years. 

At  this  first  meeting  it  was  proposed  that  the 
work  of  the  society  should  be  limited  to  the  United 
States,  but  finally  the  Home  Mission  Society  adopted 
as  its  field  North  America,  and  since  that  time 
its  motto  has  been,  "North  America  for  Christ." 
However,  the  limits  of  the  United  States  furnished 
an  ample  field  for  its  labors  in  all  the  early  years 
of  its  history.  As  early  as  1836  the  attention  of 
the  society  was  called  to  Texas  and  Mexico  as  com- 


90  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

ing  fields  for  missionary  effort,  Texas  being  then  an 
independent  republic,  and  anticipations  of  work  on 
these  fields  were  cherished  by  the  society.  It  was 
not,  however,  until  1862  that  missionary  work  in 
Mexico  was  inaugurated.  As  the  result  of  the  con- 
version of  Mr.  Thomas  M.  Westrup,  a  young  mer- 
chant of  Monterey,  and  the  active  efforts  of  Rev. 
James  M.  Hickey,  of  Matamoras,  the  First  Baptist 
Church  of  Monterey  was  organized  January  30, 
1864,  being  the  first  Baptist  church  established  in 
Mexico.  Obstacles  were  encountered  in  persecution 
from  the  Catholic  authorities  and  from  other  sources, 
and  Mr.  Westrup  was  not  appointed  a  missionary 
of  the  society  until  1870.  Before  Mr.  Westrup 
left  Mexico,  however,  in  1869,  there  were  six  con- 
gregations with  about  one  hundred  and  twenty 
members.  On  account  of  the  lack  of  funds  and 
heavy  responsibilities  in  the  limits  of  the  United 
States  the  society  discontinued  its  appropriations  in 
1876,  but  resumed  them  in  1881  by  the  reappoint- 
ment of  Mr.  Westrup  as  a  missionary  at  Monterey, 
and  soon  after  the  principal  headquarters  of  the 
mission  were  established  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  the 
capital  of  the  republic. 


CHAPTER   X 

THE   AMERICAN    BAPTIST    FREE    MISSION    SOCIETY 

THE  American  Baptist  Free  Mission  Society  was 
a  result  of  the  agitation  regarding  the  subject 
of  slavery,  which  began  in  1840.  There  was  formed 
in  the  year  1843  by  some  Baptists  who  were  dis- 
satisfied with  the  attitude  of  the  Managing  Board  of 
the  General  Convention,  "  The  American  and 
Foreign  Missionary  Society,"  on  the  basis  of  the 
following  principles  : 

A  separation  from  all  connection  with  the  known 
avails  of  slavery  in  the  support  of  its  benevolent  pur- 
poses, the  sovereignty  of  all  the  churches  over  their  own 
missionary  organizations  and  the  representative  character 
of  the  latter,  the  rejection  of  titles  of  distinction  in  the 
ministry,  such  as  "Doctor  of  Divinity,"  and  an  uncom- 
promising opposition  to  all  oath-bound,  secret  brother- 
hoods, as  being  thoroughly  opposed  to  the  genius  of 
Christianity  and  the  republican  government. 

Later  the  name  was  changed  to  "  The  American 
Baptist  Free  Mission  Society,"  and  in  consequence 
of  certain  differences  of  opinion  between  the  exec- 
utive committee  of  the  American  Baptist  Mission- 
ary Union  and  its  missionaries,  the  further  principle 
was    added  to  the  platform  of  the   Free  Mission 

91 


92  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

Society,  "That  Christian  missionaries  are  the  serv- 
ants of  Christ  and  not  of  man,"  the  society  an- 
nouncing itself  to  be  only  a  channel  through  which 
the  churches  might  conveniently  do  their  appro- 
priate work  of  evangelization.  "The  American 
Baptist"  was  established  as  the  organ  of  the  society 
upon  the  above  principles,  the  first  editor  being 
Rev.  Wareham  Walker.  Rev.  Albert  L.  Post,  of 
Montrose,  Pa.,  was  for  many  years  president  of  the 
society  and  a  leader  in  its  affairs  throughout  its 
entire  history.  Missions  were  maintained  for  a  few 
years  in  Hayti,  in  the  West  India  Islands,  and  in 
Africa,  but  its  most  important  work  outside  of  the 
United  States  was  in  connection  with  the  missions 
in  Burma. 

Some  of  the  decisions  of  the  convention  held  in 
Moulmein,  in  1853,  in  connection  with  the  visit  of 
the  deputation  from  America,  were  not  agreed  to  by 
several  of  the  most  important  missionaries  in  Burma, 
especially  from  the  restrictions  which  were  placed 
upon  the  establishment  and  conduct  of  the  school 
work,  they  felt  obliged  to  dissent.  As  the. decisions 
of  the  convention  and  deputation  Avere  upheld  by 
the  executive  committee  of  the  Missionary  Union, 
these  missionaries,  with  the  missions  conducted  by 
them,  withdrew  from  connection  with  the  Mission- 
ary Union.  This  division  continued  for  seventeen 
years  in  the  case  of  the  Rangoon  Sgaw-Karen  mis- 
sion, and  for  thirteen  years  as  to  the  Bassein  Sgaw- 
Karen  mission.  During:  this  interval  the  missionaries 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    FREE    MISSION    SOCIETY    93 

conducting  these  missions  were  sustained  by  contribu- 
tions of  the  natives,  assisted  by  independent  contri- 
butions from  this  country,  the  American  contributions 
being  sent  to  Burma  chiefly  through  the  agency  of 
the  American  Baptist  Free  Mission  Society. 

Rev.  Nathan  Brown,  missionary  of  the  Union  in 
Assam,  had  sympathized  with  the  missionaries  of 
the  Rangoon  and  Bassein  missions  in  their  attitude, 
and  on  his  return  to  America,  in  1855,  felt  obliged 
to  resign  his  connection  with  the  society.  Becom- 
ing acquainted  with  the  Free  Mission  Society  he 
found  its  principles  to  be  in  accord  with  his  own 
views,  and  in  1859  became  editor  of  its  organ, 
"The  American  Baptist,"  and  also  the  correspond- 
ing secretary  of  the  society,  a  position  which  he 
occupied  until  1872.  This  society  had  the  honor 
of  establishing  the  first  Baptist  mission  work  in 
Japan  by  the  appointment  as  missionary  of  Rev. 
Jonathan  Goble,  who  had  visited  that  country  as  a 
seaman  in  the  fleet  under  the  command  of  Commo- 
dore Perry.  The  society  supported  Messrs.  Brown 
and  Goble  for  several  years,  but  in  1872  all  causes 
of  differences  which  had  led  to  the  formation  of  the 
Free  Mission  Society  having  passed  away,  the  work 
of  that  society  was  transferred  to  the  American 
Baptist  Missionary  Union,  and  Mr.  Brown  and  Mr. 
Goble  were  appointed  as  its  missionaries.  The 
Japan  mission  at  that  time  was  the  only  work 
carried  on  under  the  auspices  of  the  Free  Mission 
Society,  and  by  the  offer  of  the  Japan  mission  to 


94  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union,  and  its 
acceptance  by  that  society  and  the  appointment  of 
its  only  missionaries  as  missionaries  of  the  Union, 
the  termination  of  the  work  of  the  American  Baptist 
Free  Mission  Society  came  about,  which  by  this 
action  transferred  all  its  salaried  officials  and  all  its 
rights  to  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union. 
A  nominal  corporate  existence  was  continued  for  the 
purpose  of  holding  bequests  and  funds  which  must 
otherwise  have  been  lost,  but  the  last  annual  meet- 
ing, being  the  thirty-second  anniversary,  Mas  held 
in  Franklin  Hall,  Jersey  City,  June  12,  1875, 
Rev.  John  Duer,  being  corresponding  secretary  and 
AVilliam  Howe,  Esq.,  77  Baldwin  Avenue,  Jersey 
City,  N.  J.,  treasurer.  The  organization  and  ex- 
istence of  the  American  Baptist  Free  Mission  So- 
ciety, like  that  of  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society  and  the  American  Bible  Union,  thus  became 
a  historical  waymark  of  the  existence  of  certain  con- 
troversies among  the  members  of  the  Baptist  denom- 
ination, which  passed  away  with  the  lapse  of  time 
and  in  a  clearer  light,  a  better  understanding,  and 
perhaps  a  larger  liberty  among  the  members  of  the 
denomination. 


CHAPTER  XI 

OMAN'S  BAPTIST   MISSIONARY  SOCIETIES 


„», 


H'EATHEXISM  bears  heaviest  on  woman.  The 
ignorance,  the  superstition,  the  physical  deg- 
radation, and  the  spiritual  darkness  which  are  the 
accompaniment  of  all  forms  of  paganism,  woman 
shares  equally  with  men;  but  in  every  heathen  land 
she  is  weighed  down  with  an  additional  social  deg- 
radation which  makes  her  lot  vastly  more  full  of 
anguish  and  terror  than  is  the  portion  of  her  hus- 
band and  brothers.  Heathenism  is  everywhere  a 
religion  of  force  and  fear.  Might  is  the  only  right, 
and  in  the  struggle  for  existence  woman  as  the 
weaker  sex  bears  the  heaviest  burdens.  There  is 
no  form  of  heathenism,  however  some  of  its  pre- 
cepts may  be  exalted  by  would-be  admirers  from 
Christian  lands,  which  suggests  anything  substantial 
in  alleviation  of  the  lot  of  woman.  In  at  least  one 
of  its  features,  the  cardinal  principle  of  Hinduism, 
explained  by  the  Brahman  as  "the  saeredness  of  the 
cow  and  degradation  of  woman,"  is  common  to  all 
heathenism.  Christianity  is  the  only  religion  which 
exalts  woman  to  her  true  position  as  the  equal  asso- 
ciate and  helpmeet  of  man. 

It  was  the  increasing  recognition  of  these  truths 


£6  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

which  led  to  the  formation  of  the  first  woman's  mis- 
sionary societies.  In  all  the  earlier  years  of  our 
Baptist  foreign  missions  the  women  in  the  churches 
were  among  the  most  ardent  and  efficient  workers 
and  contributors  to  the  enterprise.  In  many  churches 
the  work  of  the  collection  of  funds  had  been  largely 
left  to  them.  There  came  a  time,  however,  when 
many  of  the  most  earnest  and  devoted  friends  of 
missions  among  the  women  of  the  churches  felt 
pressing  upon  them  more  heavily  the  special  and 
urgent  needs  of  their  sisters  in  heathen  lands.  The 
sentiment  gradually  crystallized  until  it  resulted  in 
the  formation  of  separate  foreign  missionary  soci- 
eties for  women.  Not  that  it  Avas  proposed  that  the 
women  of  the  churches  should  separate  themselves 
from  the  general  societies,  but  it  was  hoped  that  by 
separate  organization,  while  still  continuing  their 
efforts  and  gifts  on  behalf  of  the  general  work, 
special  funds  might  be  raised  for  woman's  work  for 
women  in  heathen  lands,  without  encroaching  upon 
the  income  of  the  general  societies.  This  sentiment 
led  to  the  formation,  in  1871,  of  the  "Woman's  Bap- 
tist Foreign  Missionary  Society,  with  headquarters 
in  Boston,  and  The  Woman's  Baptist  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  the  West,  with  headquarters  in 
Chicago.  It  was  not  at  any  time  proposed  that 
these  societies  should  be  entirely  independent  of  the 
American  Baptist  Missionary  Union,  but  that  they 
were  to  be  auxiliary,  and  while  the  missionaries  to 
be  supported  by  the  woman's  societies  were  to  be 


woman's  baptist  missionary  societies    97 

selected  and  recommended,  and  the  funds  they  should 
gather  designated  by  them,  the  appointment  of  the 
missionaries  was  to  rest  with  the  executive  committee 
of  the  Missionary  Union,  and  all  the  funds  of  the 
woman's  societies,  with  the  exception  of  those  for 
home  expenses,  were  to  pass  through  the  treasury  of 
the  Union  and  be  disbursed  as  the  gifts  of  the  women 
had  been  heretofore. 

As  a  movement  among  women,  the  formation  of 
these  societies  has  been  a  great  success,  both  societies 
having  had  a  large  growth  and  been  very  success- 
ful in  the  raising  of  funds.  While  it  cannot  be 
said  that  they  have  wholly  avoided  diversion  of 
moneys  from  the  general  funds  of  the  Missionary 
Union,  it  is  still  undoubtedly  true  that  the  special 
eiforts  of  the  woman's  societies  have  largely  increased 
the  contributions  of  the  women  in  our  churches  for 
foreign  missions  over  the  natural  increase  that  might 
have  been  expected  without  these  agencies.  The 
increase  of  the  funds  of  the  woman's  societies  has 
been  in  larger  proportion  than  that  of  the  general 
funds  of  the  Missionary  Union,  and  as  their  funds 
have  been  devoted  especially  to  school  and  evangel- 
istic work  among  women  it  has  been  thought  to 
have  led  to  a  disproportionate  increase  of  these 
branches  of  mission  work  in  contrast  with  the  gen- 
eral evangelistic  work  of  the  missions.  In  later 
years  a  larger  proportion  of  the  funds  of  women  has 
been  designated  to  general  work,  so  aiding  directly 
the  principal  feature  of  the  missionary  enterprise. 

c; 


98  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

The  success  of  the  woman's  societies  with  head- 
quarters in  Boston  and  Chicago,  led  to  the  formation 
of  the  Woman's  Baptist  Foreign  Missionary  Society 
of  California,  in  1875,  and  the  Woman's  Baptist 
Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  Oregon,  in  1878,  for 
similar  work  among  the  women  of  the  Baptist 
churches  on  the  Pacific  coast.  Recognizing  the  pos- 
sibility of  undue  development  of  school  and  evan- 
gelistic work  among  women  the  society  of  California 
took  the  new  departure  of  assuming  the  full  support 
of  a  missionary  and  his  wife,  Rev.  and  Mrs.  J.  H. 
Scott,  in  Osaka,  Japan.  This  suggestive  initiative 
has  had  an  influence  upon  the  other  woman's  soci- 
eties. Woman's  foreign  missionary  societies  have 
also  been  organized  in  Pennsylvania,  Michigan, 
Ohio,  and  other  States,  but  they  are  entirely  sub- 
sidiary to  the  other  societies — that  in  Pennsylvania 
to  the  society  with  headquarters  in  Boston,  and  those 
in  Michigan,  Ohio,  and  the  Western  States  to  the 
Woman's  Society  of  the  West.  The  fields  of  the 
four  woman's  societies,  organized  as  auxiliary  to  the 
American  Baptist  Missionary  Union,  are  entirely 
conterminous  with  those  of  the  Union  itself.  Each 
society  has  the  privilege  of  taking  up  work  in  any 
of  the  fields  of  the  Union,  and  of  engaging  in  any 
portion  of  the  work  which  may  commend  itself 
especially  to  the  managers  of  the  societies.  The 
Boston  and  Chicago  societies  are  carrying  on  work 
in  all  the  fields  on  which  the  missionaries  of  the 
Union  are  engaged,  while  the  society  of  California 


woman's  baptist  MISSIONARY   societies    99 

has  hitherto  limited  its  efforts  to  Japan.     The  Ore- 
gon society  has  had  missionaries  in  India. 

Stimulated  by  the  action  of  these  sisters  in  the 
Northern  States  the  Baptist  women  of  the  South 
began  to  be  inspired  by  a  desire  for  more  aggressive 
and  independent  action  on  behalf  of  missions.  In 
their  organization,  however,  they  were  able  to  learn 
lessons  of  value  from  the  experience  of  the  Northern 
societies,  and  owing  somewhat  also  to  the  closer  and 
more  vital  church  life  of  the  Baptist  churches  in  the 
Southern  States  the  Woman's  Missionary  Union,  or- 
ganized in  1888  as  auxiliary  to  the  Southern  Bap- 
tist Convention,  is  more  strictly  identified  with  and 
subordinate  to  the  Convention,  and  their  relations 
to  the  general  society  are  more  intimate  than  those 
of  the  woman's  societies  in  the  Northern  States  with 
the  Missionary  Union.  While  having  a  special  in- 
terest, of  course,  in  the  evangelization  of  women  in 
heathen  lands,  the  Woman's  Missionary  Union  aux- 
iliary to  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  in  its 
constitution  defines  its  purpose  to  be  : 

1.  To  distribute  missionary  information  and  stimulate 
effort,  through  State  Central  Committees,  where  they 
exist ;  and,  where  they  do  not,  to  encourage  the  organ- 
ization of  new  societies. 

2.  To  secure  the  earnest,  systematic  co-operation  of 
women  and  children  in  collecting  and  raising  money  for 
missions. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  women  of  the 
Southern  Baptist  churches  limit  their  special  and 


100  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

separate  endeavors  to  the  spread  of  missionary  in- 
formation and  interest  among  the  churches,  and  that 
the  funds  raised  by  them  are  wholly  and  without 
special  designation  devoted  to  the  general  purposes 
of  the  work  of  the  Mission  Boards. 

All  these  societies,  as  well  as  the  Women's  Home 
Mission  Societies  hereafter  named,  hold  their  inde- 
pendent annual  meetings  and  have  a  full  organiza- 
tion and  a  full  complement  of  officers. 

Inspired  by  the  same  general  impulses  there  was 
formed  in  1877  the  Women's  Baptist  Home  Mission 
Society,  having  its  headquarters  in  Chicago.  In  this 
case,  however,  the  organization  is  entirely  independ- 
ent of  the  general  missionary  societies  of  the  Baptist 
churches,  while  working  in  the  same  general  lines 
and  for  the  same  purposes.  This  society  has  estab- 
lished a  Missionary  Training  School  in  Chicago, 
where  women  missionaries  are  trained  for  both  home 
and  foreign  missionary  work.  Naturally  its  chief 
work  has  been  within  the  limits  of  the  United 
States,  but  aside  from  this  it  has  maintained  mis- 
sionaries in  Mexico  since  1886,  and  has  already  in- 
augurated missionary  effort  for  the  more  lately 
opened  missionary  fields  of  Porto  Rico  and  Cuba. 

In  the  same  year  the  Women's  American  Baptist 
Home  Mission  Society,  with  headquarters  in  Boston, 
was  organized  for  work  in  needy  fields  in  North 
America.  This  society,  however,  is  auxiliary  to  the 
American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society,  through 
the  treasury  of  which  all  its  funds  are  disbursed, 


woman's  BAPTIST   MISSIONARY   societies  101 

with  the  exception  of  the  expenditures  for  Alaska, 
official  salaries,  and  for  some  miscellaneous  work.  In 
addition  to  educational  work  for  girls  in  the  South 
and  other  mission  work,  this  society  has  taken  as  its 
special  field,  missionary  work  in  Alaska,  where  it  has 
assumed  the  full  support  of  missionary  families  for 
general  evangelistic  work.  It  has  also  established 
an  excellent  work  on  Wood  Island  in  an  orphan- 
age for  the  children  of  the  Indians.  This  has  at- 
tracted great  interest  and  has  commended  itself,  not 
only  because  of  the  needy  field  which  it  occupies, 
but  by  the  usefulness  of  its  work,  which  embraces 
not  only  Christian  education  for  the  children  but 
training  in  many  features  of  industrial  work. 

While,  as  above  stated,  it  cannot  be  claimed  that 
the  woman's  societies  have  entirely  avoided  encroach- 
ment on  the  fields  and  funds  of  the  general  societies, 
this  has  not  been  due  to  the  intention  or  eiforts  of 
the  management  of  the  societies,  but  to  certain  nat- 
ural and  inevitable  tendencies  connected  with  any 
special  or  partially  disconnected  work,  and  they  have 
unquestionably  made  good  their  claim  to  a  large  in- 
crease of  missionary  interest  and  effort  among  the 
women  of  our  churches  all  over  the  land. 


CHAPTER   XII 

AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    BURMA 

BURMA,  the  earliest,  and  for  many  years  the 
only,  foreign  mission  field  of  American  Bap- 
tists, has  always  retained  a  peculiar  hold  upon  the 
interest  and  affections  of  the  Baptist  churches  of 
this  country.  While  beginnings  of  missions  had 
been  made  in  Siam,  China,  Assam,  and  Southern 
India,  previous  to  the  formation  of  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention  in  1845  and  the  consequent 
division  of  the  missionary  work  of  the  Baptists  of 
the  United  States,  yet  these  beginnings  were  so  small 
as  not  to  have  obtained  a  firm  grasp  upon  the  interest 
of  the  people  at  that  time,  and  Burma  was  then,  and 
continues  to  be,  in  a  peculiar  sense,  the  well  beloved 
mission  child  of  all  the  Baptists  of  this  country, 
North  and  South.  The  nature  of  the  country  and 
its  peoples  furnishes  a  just  basis  for  the  deep  and 
abiding  interest  which  has  been  felt  in  missions  in 
that  country.  Although  now  but  one  of  the  prov- 
inces of  the  British  Empire  in  India,  when  Baptist 
missions  were  begun  in  Burma  by  Adoniram  and 
Ann  Hasseltine  Judson,  in  1813,  it  was  entirely 
under  the  rule  of  a  savage  king,  and  their  enter- 
prise was  the  first  attack  made  by  Christian  mis- 

102 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    BURMA    103 

sionaries  on  the  native  kingdoms  of  the  East.  Carey 
and  his  companions  were  located  in  the  Danish  set- 
tlement in  Serampore,  and  Swartz  and  others  of  the 
earliest  missionaries  in  India  had  also  been  under 
the  protection  of  civilized  governments.  The  pecu- 
liarly heroic  character  of  the  assault  of  the  Judsons 
on  the  notoriously  savage  and  cruel  native  kingdom 
of  Burma,  was  recognized  by  their  missionary  asso- 
ciates in  India  and  made  a  deep  impression  upon 
the  whole  Christian  world. 

When  American  Baptists  began  their  foreign 
missions  in  Burma,  it  was  then  as  now  a  country 
of  extraordinary  fertility  and  productiveness.  Great 
progress,  whether  commercial  or  Christian,  was  im- 
possible under  native  rule.  But  the  successive  con- 
quests of  the  English  and  the  annexation  to  their 
dominions  of  Arakan  and  Tenasserim  in  1826,  of 
Pegu  in  1854,  and  of  all  Upper  Burma  in  1885, 
have  gradually  opened  the  entire  country  to  civil- 
ization, commerce,  and  the  free  and  uninterrupted 
labors  of  Christian  missions,  and  Burma  is  to-day 
recognized  as  the  most  prosperous  and  most  prom- 
ising province  of  British  India.  Wages  are  more 
than  three  times  as  high  as  in  the  peninsula  of 
Hindustan  across  the  bay  of  Bengal,  and  the  inter- 
nal resources  of  Burma  are  increasing  with  remarka- 
ble rapidity.  Although  the  population  numbers 
but  little  more  than  eight  millions,  and  from  this 
point  of  view  it  might  seem  to  offer  only  a  minor 
field  for  missionary  effort,  yet  the  variety  of  races 


104  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

and  languages  represented,  numbering  as  many 
as  forty-seven,  and  their  relations  to  the  peo- 
ples of  the  surrounding  countries,  India,  Assam, 
China,  Tonking,  and  Siam,  vastly  enlarge  the 
importance  of  Burma  as  a  field  for  Christian  mis- 
sions. The  additional  fact  that  it  is  also  the  strong- 
hold of  Buddhism,  as  well  as  the  residence  of  many 
animistic  tribes,  makes  Burma  the  religious  key  to 
southeastern  Asia. 

In  this  extraordinarily  and  exceptionally  attractive 
country  Baptists  have  from  the  first  found  an  ample 
and  encouraging  field  for  missionary  effort,  and  they 
have  cultivated  it  with  such  assiduity  that  the  num- 
ber of  Christian  missionaries  in  proportion  to  popu- 
lation has  always  been  greater  in  Burma  than  in 
any  other  foreign  mission  field,  and  the  success  of 
the  Baptist  mission  has  been  so  great  as  to  lead 
other  religious  bodies  to  leave  this  field  largely  to 
the  Baptists.  In  recent  years  a  few  missionaries  of 
the  English  Wesleyan  and  American  Methodists 
have  located  at  some  points  in  Burma,  and  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  repre- 
senting the  High  Church  element  of  the  Church  of 
England,  has  sustained  missionaries  there,  but  aside 
from  these  the  entire  responsibility  for  giving  the  gos- 
pel to  Burma  has  devolved  upon  American  Baptists. 

Just  previous  to  the  separation  of  American  Bap- 
tists into  two  foreign  missionary  organizations  in 
1845,  the  labors  of  Judson  and  his  associates,  alluded 
to  in  the  earlier  chapters  of  this  volume,  had  begun 


AMERICAN     BAPTIST    MISSION'S    IN    BURMA     L05 

to  bear  abundant  fruit.  The  work  of  Rev.  Justus 
H.  Vinton  among  the  Karens  of  Rangoon  district 
had  been  greatly  blessed.  During  the  prevalence 
of  a  famine,  Mr.  Vinton,  after  distributing  all  the 
rice  in  his  storehouses,  had  pledged  his  personal 
credit  to  the  rice  merchants  for  a  large  quantity, 
and  freely  distributed  it,  not  only  among  the  starving 
Christians,  but  among  the  heathen  who  applied. 
As  afterward  among  the  Telugus  at  Ongole,  this 
action  paved  the  way  for  the  gospel.  Mr.  Vinton 
in  his  tours  among  the  people  was  everywhere  wel- 
comed as  "  the  man  who  saved  our  lives,"  and  the 
gospel  which  he  preached  was  freely  received  by 
those  whose  hearts  had  been  opened  by  gratitude 
for  material  blessings.  Hundreds  were  baptized, 
and  the  Rangoon  Karen  mission,  the  headquarters 
of  which  were  then  located  on  the  premises  which 
they  still  occupy  in  the  Kemendine  district  of  Ran- 
goon City,  was  started  on  that  career  of  prosperity 
which  continued  in  succeeding  years,  and  which 
placed  the  mission  second  in  numbers  in  Burma. 
The  remarkable  religious  interest  among  the  Karens 
in  Southwestern  Burma,  first  centered  at  Sandoway 
across  the  mountains  in  Arakan,  had  grown  in  num- 
bers and  in  self-reliance,  so  that  in  1849  the  Karen 
pastors  of  Bassein,  where  the  headquarters  of  the 
mission  had  then  been  located,  resolved  to  relin- 
quish all  assistance  from  mission  funds  and  to  rely 
wholly  upon  their  churches  for  support.  In  18.~i() 
a    Karen    Home    Mission  Society    was  formed    in 


106  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

Bassein,  and  in  1854  a  similar  society  among  the 
Karens  of  Rangoon,  for  missionary  work  among 
their  own  people,  these  being,  it  is  believed,  the 
first  two  societies  of  the  kind  ever  formed  in  heathen 
lands.  The  practice  of  entire  self-support,  then 
inaugurated  by  the  Bassein  Karens,  has  prevailed 
in  that  mission  to  the  present  day,  and  the  work  at 
the  same  time  has  experienced  large  spiritual  pros- 
perity, so  that  it  stands  first  in  point  of  numbers 
among  the  missions  in  Burma,  and  has  been  an 
illustrious  example  of  self-support,  self-management, 
and  liberality  to  Christian  missions  in  all  heathen 
lands.  On  May  16,  1878,  fifty  years  after  the 
baptism  of  the  first  Karen  convert,  Kothahbyu, 
the  Bassein  Karens  dedicated  the  Kothahbyu  Me- 
morial Hall  for  the  use  of  the  Sgaw-Karen  Normal 
and  Industrial  Institute.  The  cost  of  this  building- 
was  twenty-two  thousand  dollars,  and  for  the  build- 
ing and  its  endowment  the  Bassein  Karens  raised  at 
that  time  more  than  thirty-one  thousand  dollars,  a 
record  seldom  if  ever  equalled  by  any  Christian 
community  in  heathen  lands.  The  Rangoon  Karens, 
with  the  assistance  of  English  residents  of  Rangoon 
and  friends  in  America  and  England,  also  erected  a 
fine  chapel  called  "  Franc's  Chapel," — from  the  fact 
that  the  first  gift  to  the  chapel  was  a  five  franc 
piece  from  a  poor  woman, — which  furnished  accom- 
modations for  their  school  and  religious  worship  on 
the  mission  compound  in  Rangoon. 

With  the  rapid  increase  in  the  number  of  con- 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    BURMA    107 

verts,  the  pressing  importance  of  education,  and  es- 
pecially of  training  religious  leaders  for  the  people, 
was  early  pressed  upon  the  attention  of  the  mission- 
aries. In  1838  a  Burman  theological  school  was 
started  by  Edward  A.  Stevens,  d.  d.,  which  after 
his  death  was  continued  by  A.  T.  Rose,  D.  D.,  and 
later  incorporated  as  the  Burman  department  of  the 
theological  seminary  at  Insein.  The  Karen  Liter- 
ary and  Theological  Institution  was  organized  in 
1846,  in  Moulmein,  by  J.  G.  Binney,  d.  d.,  and  was 
afterward  removed  to  Rangoon  as  the  Karen  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  and  later  to  Insein,  nine  miles 
from  Rangoon,  where  the  scope  of  the  seminary  was 
enlarged  in  1894  to  include  the  training  not  only 
of  Karens,  but  Burmans,  as  above  noted,  and  of 
Christian  preachers  and  pastors  for  all  the  races  of 
Burma.  The  Rangoon  Baptist  College,  for  the 
higher  education  of  young  men  of  all  races  in  Burma, 
was  begun  in  1872  by  Doctor  Binney,  who  also  con- 
tinued at  the  same  time  to  be  the  president  of  the 
theological  seminary.  Associated  with  him  in  the 
early  work  of  the  college  were  John  Packer,  d.  d., 
afterward  for  many  years  president  of  the  college, 
and  Rev.  Chapin  H.  Carpenter,  who,  however,  soon 
removed  to  the  care  of  the  Karen  work  in  Bassein, 
with  which  his  labors  in  Burma  were  principally 
identified. 

Connected  with  the  removal  of  Mr.  Carpenter  to 
Bassein  was  the  first  use  of  the  Atlantic  cable  for 
Baptist  mission  purposes.     Rev.  B.  C.  Thomas  had 


108  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

been  compelled  to  leave  Bassein,  where  he  had  worn 
himself  out  in  the  service  of  the  mission,  and  had 
died  in  New  York  City  but  one  day  after  reaching 
America.  The  question  of  the  leadership  of  the  great 
Bassein  Sgaw-Karen  mission  was  pending,  and  the 
executive  committee  of  the  Missionary  Union  con- 
sidered the  matter  at  a  special  meeting  hold  Oct. 
26,  1867,  and  sent  this  message  by  cable  to  the 
Missionary  Convention  assembled  in  Rangoon  : 
"Carpenter  transferred  to  Bassein,  and  Smith  to 
Rangoon."  The  message  was  delivered  in  three 
days  after  leaving  Boston  and  produced  a  profound 
impression  on  the  missionaries  in  Burma.  It  was 
recognized  as  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  in  the  con- 
duct of  missionary  work.  When  four  months  were 
required  for  the  quickest  communication  between 
the  missionaries  and  the  official  headquarters  of  the 
Union,  even  the  most  important  questions  were  de- 
layed in  settlement  oftentimes  to  the  serious  injury 
of  the  work.  Now  that  the  time  of  question  and 
answer  was  reduced  to  a  few  days,  as  later  to  a  few 
hours,  a  new  ease  and  facility  in  the  adjustment  of 
all  missionary  questions  were  afforded. 

An  important  feature  of  the  missionary  work  in 
Burma  in  all  its  stages  has  been  the  printing  press, 
which,  starting  from  the  small  hand  press  used  by 
Felix  Carey,  and  afterward  given  by  the  Serampore 
mission  to  the  American  Baptist  mission  for  the  use 
of  Rev.  George  H.  Hough,  the  associate  of  Judson, 
has  increased  to  the  large  establishment  now  known 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    BURMA    109 

as  the  American  Baptist  Mission  Press  in  Rangoon. 
From  the  Baptist  Mission  Press  in  Burma  four 
complete  editions  of  the  Bible  have  been  issued. 
The  Burman  Bible,  translated  by  Adoniram  Jndson, 
was  put  to  press  in  Moulmein  in  1840  by  Rev.  S. 
M.  Osgood,  afterward  agent  of  the  Missionary  Union 
in  New  York  City.  He  also  printed  there  a  second 
edition  of  the  same  work.  The  Tavoy  and  Moul- 
mein presses  were  afterward  united  and  removed  to 
Rangoon,  where  they  have  remained  to  the  present 
day.  Here  was  printed  in  1853  the  translation  of 
the  Bible  in  Sgaw-Karen  made  by  Rev.  Francis 
Mason,  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  Pwo-Karen 
by  Rev.  D.  L.  Brayton  in  1883,  and  the  Shan  Bible 
by  J.  N.  Cushing,  D.  d.,  in  1891.  Many  editions 
of  the  New  Testament  and  portions  of  Scripture 
in  these  languages  have  also  been  issued  from  the 
mission  press,  as  well  as  portions  of  Scripture  in 
four  or  more  additional  languages  and  dialects  of 
Burma.  "  The  Religious  Herald,"  a  Burman  paper 
started  in  1842,  and  "The  Morning  Star,"  in 
Karen,  begun  in  1843,  have  been  issued  from  this 
press  continuously  from  the  beginning,  as  well  as 
millions  of  tracts  and  many  Christian  books  for  the 
use  of  the  growing  Christian  community  in  Burma. 
It  is  the  only  printing  press  in  the  world  which  has 
facilities  for  printing  in  several  languages  used  by 
many  millions  of  people.  The  name  longest  connected 
with  the  press  is  that  of  Rev.  Cephas  Bennett,  who  re- 
tired in  1881,  after  fifty  years'  service  as  superinten- 


110  AMERICAS    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

dent.  He  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Frank  D.  Phinney, 
under  whose  efficient  management  the  work  of  the 
press  has  been  greatly  enlarged,  employing  in  1900 
about  one  hundred  and  thirty  persons  in  all  depart- 
ments. 

By  the  conclusions  of  the  Moulmein  Convention 
held  in  connection  with  the  deputation  from  the 
Missionary  Union  in  1853,  the  Karen  missionaries 
felt  themselves  to  be  aggrieved,  and  Rev.  Justus 
H.  Vinton,  Rev.  Durlin  L.  Brayton,  Rev.  Norman 
Harris,  and  Rev.  John  S.  Beecher,  as  well  as  Rev. 
A.  T.  Rose,  of  the  Burman  Department,  resigned 
their  connection  with  the  Missionary  Union.  The 
separation  continued  in  the  case  of  the  Bassein 
Karen  mission  for  thirteen  years,  and  of  the  Ran- 
goon Karen  mission  for  seventeen  years.  During 
these  years  the  missionary  work  wras  carried  on 
without  interruption  on  both  these  fields,  the  mission- 
aries and  various  departments  of  the  work  being 
supported  by  the  contributions  of  the  Karens,  by 
the  liberal  contributions  of  the  English  residents  of 
Rangoon,  who  in  the  year  1857  gave  as  much  as 
sixteen  thousand  and  thirty-nine  rupees,  and  by  re- 
mittances from  friends  in  England.  American  con- 
tributions  for  the  missions  were  forwarded,  as  has 
been  stated,  through  the  American  Baptist  Free 
Mission  Society,  the  secretary  of  which,  Nathan 
Brown,  d.  d.,  sympathized  with  the  missionaries 
and  the  reasons  which  led  them  to  withdraw  from 
the    Missionary    Union.      The    misunderstandings 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    EN    BURMA    111 

which  led  to  the  separation  having  passed  away,  the 
Bassein  mission  was  reunited  with  the  Union  and 
the  other  mission  work  in  Burma  in  1867,  and  the 
Rangoon  Karen  mission  in  1871,  and  the  mission- 
aries cordially  resumed  their  connection  with  the 
society  and  their  co-operation  with  the  other  brethren 
in  Burma.  The  points  of  difference  were  especially 
in  regard  to  the  establishment  and  conduct  of  local 
schools  and  the  measure  of  individual  liberty  which 
was  to  be  accorded  to  the  missionaries.  In  the 
light  of  clearer  understanding  of  the  needs  and  best 
methods  of  missionary  work  all  differences  on  these 
points  have  been  removed. 

In  1855  there  were  nine  Baptist  mission  stations 
in  Burma  :  Rangoon,  Moulmein,  Tavoy,  Bassein, 
Henzada,  Toungoo,  Shwegyin,  Prome,  and  Thongze, 
all  of  which  except  the  first  four  had  been  opened 
since  1853,  in  consequence  of  the  deliberations  of 
the  Moulmein  Convention.  From  this  time  for 
twenty-one  years  no  new  mission  stations  were 
opened  in  Burma ;  but  with  the  centers  already  es- 
tablished large  progress  continued  to  be  made,  es- 
pecially in  the  Rangoon,  Bassein,  Henzada,  and 
Toungoo  Karen  missions,  which  continued  to  be 
the  strongest  and  most  prosperous  departments  of 
labor  in  the  Burman  missions,  the  Rangoon  and 
Bassein  missions  having  two  departments,  the  Sgaw- 
Karen  and  Pwo-Karen,  while  the  two  tribes  of 
Karens  in  the  Henzada  district  remained  in  union 
in  their  Christian  work.      At  Toungoo  two  principal 


112  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

divisions  exist,  that  among  the  Paku  ami  the  Bwe- 
Karens.  The  Sgaw  and  the  Pwo  are  the  principal 
tribes  of  the  Karens,  being  about  equally  divided 
in  number,  the  Pwos  being  more  nearly  allied  in 
habits  and  custom  to  the  Burmans,  while  the  Sgaw- 
Karens  are  more  primitive  in  their  manners,  less 
affected  by  Buddhism,  and  have  received  the  gospel 
more  largely  than  any  other  division  of  the  Karen 
people  or  any  other  race  in  Burma. 

During  the  years  previous  to  1876  the  missionary 
work  was  strengthening  and  extending  on  all  the 
fields  in  Burma  preparatory  to  a  rapidity  of  expan- 
sion similar  to  that  which  had  been  experienced  in 
1853,  1854,  and  1855.  In  1876  two  stations  were 
opened,  at  Tharawadi  among  the  Karens  and  at 
Zigon  among  the  Burmans,  and  the  next  year  a 
mission  was  begun  by  J.  N.  dishing,  D.  d.,  at 
Bhamo,  eight  hundred  miles  north  of  Rangoon,  in 
Upper  Burma,  with  the  design  of  reaching  the 
Shans  and  tribes  on  the  borders  of  Western  China. 
For  several  years  the  Bhamo  mission  had  a  check- 
ered history,  having  a  rapid  succession  of  mission- 
aries; at  one  time  the  city  was  taken  by  marauding 
bands  of  Chinese  robbers  and  the  missionaries  were 
compelled  wholly  to  retire  from  the  field.  With  the 
capture  of  Upper  Burma  by  the  English  in  1885, 
the  mission  in  Bhamo  was  permanently  re-estab- 
lished, and  there  the  missionaries  have  continued 
their  labors  among  the  Burmans,  the  Shans,  and  the 
Kachins,    with    peculiar   success   among   the    last- 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    BURMA     llo 

named  people.  The  war  between  the  English  and 
Thebaw,  the  last  king  of  Burma,  was  brought  on 
by  the  interference  of  the  king  with  the  operations 
of  the  British-Burma  Lumber  Company,  whose 
business  he  had  agreed  to  foster  and  protect.  As 
in  the  previous  wars  with  the  English,  the  Burmans 
entered  upon  this  contest  with  perfect  confidence  in 
their  speedy  success ;  but  their  army  was  defeated 
at  the  first  assault,  and  in  December,  1885,  Manda- 
lay,  the  capital,  was  captured  with  King  Thebaw  and 
his  cruel  and  bloodthirsty  queen,  Soopayalat.  The 
victory  over  the  Burman  army  was  an  easy  task  for 
the  British,  but  the  pacification  of  the  country 
proved  far  more  difficult.  The  Burman  soldiers 
formed  themselves  into  bands  of  marauders,  or  da- 
coits,  and  hiding  in  the  depths  of  jungle  fastnesses, 
by  sudden  raids,  robberies,  and  murder,  kept  the 
whole  country  in  turmoil  and  fear.  British  soldiers, 
even  though  natives  of  India,  found  it  impossible  to 
follow  these  bands  to  their  hiding-places,  and  made 
little  progress  in  bringing  them  into  subjection  even 
after  gaining  the  victory,  having  the  same  experience 
as  the  American  army  operating  in  later  years  under 
similar  conditions  in  the  Philippine  Islands.  These 
circumstances  afforded  opportunity  for  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  displays  of  the  political  benefits 
of  Christian  missions  which  history  has  supplied. 
Moved  by  distrust,  the  English  government  had  de- 
creed that  no  native  of  Burma  should  be  allowed  to 
carry  arms.      After  a  time  some  of  the  missionaries 

H 


114  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

obtained  permission  for  the  Karens  in  their  churches 
to  keep  firearms  to  protect  their  villages  from  the 
dacoits,  the  missionaries  becoming  responsible  for 
the  good  conduct  of  their  converts.  These  Karens 
pursued  the  robber  bands  to  their  secret  retreats  in 
the  jungle,  captured  their  leaders  and  dispersed  the 
bands  of  dacoits  with  such  success  that  the  govern- 
ment itself  at  once  established  a  force  of  Karen 
military  police,  largely  composed  of  Christians,  and 
by  this  body  was  effected  in  a  few  months  what  the 
British  army  had  vainly  striven  to  accomplish — 
the  complete  pacification  of  Burma.  For  this  serv- 
ice the  government  gave  the  Christian  Karens  and 
their  leaders  the  warmest  praise. 

For  convenience,  the  headquarters  of  the  Ran- 
goon Pwo  Karen  mission  were  removed  to  Man  bin 
in  1879,  the  extension  of  facilities  for  travel  having 
rendered  possible  residence  in  the  jungle  among  the 
people.  In  1886  the  dream  of  Judson,  the  pioneer 
of  American  Baptist  missions  in  Burma,  was  re- 
alized by  the  permanent  establishment  of  a  mission 
station  in  Mandalay,  the  capital  of  Upper  Burma. 
This  field  included  the  sites  of  Ava  and  Oungpenla 
(Aungbinle),  where  Judson  suffered  his  terrible  im- 
prisonment. It  is  the  chief  city  of  Upper  Burma 
and  exercises  an  important  influence  upon  the  whole 
territory.  The  next  year  was  signalized  by  the 
opening  of  three  new  missionary  stations,  one  at 
Thayetmyo,  on  the  Irawadi  river,  near  the  boundary 
of  Upper  Burma,  one  at    Myingyan,  one  hundred 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    BURMA     li-~; 

miles  south  of  Mandalay,  and  another  at  Pegu,  forty 
miles  northeast  of  Rangoon,  on  the  railroad  running 
from  Rangoon  to  Mandalay  by  the  way  of  Toungoo. 
The  succeeding  year,  1888,  was  marked  by  the 
opening  of  two  mission  stations,  one  at  Sagaing,  on 
the  west  side  of  the  Irawadi,  fifteen  miles  below 
Mandalay,  and  opposite  Ava,  the  scene  of  Judson's 
imprisonment,  which  is  now  included  in  the  field  of 
this  station.  An  interesting  event  of  this  year  also 
was  the  opening  of  a  mission  station  at  Sandoway, 
the  sanitarium  of  Arakan,  and  in  the  earlier  years 
of  the  mission  the  headquarters  of  the  Bassein  Sgaw- 
Karen  mission.  The  new  station,  however,  is  for 
work  among  the  Burmans  and  the  Southern  Chins, 
the  northern  being  reached  from  Thayetmyo.  The 
next  year,  1889,  also  witnessed  the  opening  of  two 
stations,  one  at  Insein,  nine  miles  north  of  Rangoon, 
where  the  Baptist  theological  seminary  was  then  lo- 
cated, and  one  at  Meiktila,  the  military  sanitarium 
of  Upper  Burma,  between  Toungoo  and  Mandalay. 
Mission  work  among  the  Shans  had  hitherto  been 
carried  on  only  among  the  scattered  communities  of 
this  people  found  in  Lower  Burma  and  in  Bhamo  ; 
but  with  the  complete  pacification  of  the  country 
under  English  rule  the  time  had  come  to  establish 
stations  in  the  Shan  territory  of  the  eastern  part  of 
Burma,  and  one  was  opened  at  Hsipaw  (Thibaw),  in 
1890,  by  Rev.  M.  B.  Kirkpatrick,  m.  d.,  and  another 
at  Mongnai  (Mone),  in  1892,  by  A.  H.  Henderson, 
M.  D.     The    next    year    another   Shan   station  was 


116  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

opened  by  Rev.  W.  W.  Cochrane  at  Namkham  in 
Upper  Burma,  about  twenty-five  miles  southeast  of 
Bhamo,  in  a  beautiful  valley  and  within  one  mile 
of  the  boundary  line  of  China.  Myitkyina,  north 
of  Bhamo,  opened  in  1894  for  missionary  work 
among  the  Kaehins,  is  the  most  northern  station 
in  Burma,  and  this  and  the  new  station  among 
the  Chins,  opened  in  1899  by  Rev.  A.  E.  Car- 
son, near  the  highway  between  Burma  and  Assam 
marks  a  large  advance  in  the  complete  occupation 
of  Burma  by  the  Baptist  missions  and  the  nearer 
approach  to  the  project  cherished  in  the  early  days 
of  the  mission,  when  there  should  be  a  complete 
union  between  the  missions  in  Burma  and  Assam. 

AVhile  the  earlier  missionary  efforts  in  Burma 
were  confined  to  labors  for  the  Burmans  and  the 
principal  tribes  of  the  Karens, — the  Sgaw  and  the 
Pwo, — in  later  years  they  have  been  extended  until 
they  included  special  and  distinctive  labors  for  all 
of  the  forty-seven  tribes  and  peoples  represented  in 
the  limits  of  Burma  who  are  sufficiently  numerous 
to  be  mentioned  in  the  British  census  of  India,  the 
latest  mission  to  be  established  being  work  among 
the  Chinese  immigrants  and  traders  and  laborers 
in  the  city  of  Rangoon.  These  extended  and  com- 
prehensive labors  of  the  Baptists  for  the  peoples  of 
Burma  have  so  preoccupied  the  field  that  with  the 
immense  territories  in  other  heathen  lands  still 
awaiting  Christian  labors  there  would  seem  to  be  no 
peculiar  or  pressing  opening  for  the  labors  of  repre- 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    BURMA    117 

sentatives  of  other  bodies  for  the  polyglot  and  mul- 
tifarious peoples  of  Burma. 

The  Baptist  missions  in  Burma  have  been  blessed 
with  a  fruitfulness  which  can  only  be  compared 
with  the  extraordinary  fertility  of  its  own  productive 
soil.  In  1900  the  members  of  Baptist  churches 
numbered  about  thirty-five  hundred  Bunnaus,  and 
thirty-five  thousand  Karens,  with  a  total  church- 
membership  of  all  races  approaching  fifty  thousand, 
and  representing  a  Christian  population  of  half  a 
million,  occupying  the  most  strategic  and  influential 
territory  of  southeastern  Asia.  From  their  success- 
ful missions  in  Burma  as  a  fulcrum,  American  Bap- 
tists have  facilities  already  provided  for  reaching 
out  in  every  direction  to  the  varied  peoples  and 
tongues  of  all  surrounding  countries. 

From  the  earliest  years  of  their  history  the  missions 
in  Burma  have  called  for  the  services  of  some  of  the 
ablest  representatives  of  the  Baptist  ministry  in  this 
country,  and  oftentimes  the  sacrifice  of  precious 
lives.  Adoniram  Judson,  the  founder  of  the  mis- 
sions, died  at  sea,  April  12,  1850,  when  three  days 
out  on  a  voyage  from  Rangoon  ;  and  many  others  of 
his  companions  and  his  successors  in  labors  have 
passed  to  their  reward  after  long  years  of  useful 
service  for  Christ  in  Burma.  The  earliest  youthful 
.martyrs  to  the  missions,  Wheelock  and  Colman, 
have  also  had  their  successors,  who,  after  but  a  few 
months  or  years,  having  scarcely  entered  upon  mis- 
sionary service  for  the  people  of  Burma,  have  been 


118  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

called  to  withdraw  their  strong  and  youthful  hands 
from  the  plow  to  join  the  praises  of  the  redeemed 
in  the  heavenly  country.  The  mission  to  the  Slums 
has  been  peculiarly  afflicted  in  this  respect,  no  less 
than  three  young  and  promising  missionaries,  Rev. 
Edwin  D.  Kelley,  Rev.  Albert  J.  Lyon,  and  Rev. 
Bennet  J.  Mix,  being  lost  to  the  mission  within  a 
few  years,  when  just  on  the  threshold  of  their  work  ; 
and  the  number  of  those  who  have  passed  from  earth 
to  heaven  after  service  for  Christ  in  Burma  com- 
prises an  honored  roll  of  heroic  spirits,  of  whom  we 
can  now  think  as  rejoicing  in  the  presence  of  the 
Lord  with  the  multitudes  of  Burmans,  Karens,  Shans, 
and  representatives  of  other  peoples  of  Burma,  re- 
deemed from  idolatry  and  sin  and  gathered  as  ripe 
sheaves  in  the  harvest  of  heaven.  As  one  by  one 
these  have  passed  on  before,  others  like  them  in 
mind  and  in  spirit  have  been  raised  up  to  enter  upon 
their  labors. 

Among  these  are  many  whose  fathers  and  mothers 
gave  their  lives  for  the  people  of  Burma.  The  "  Bap- 
tist Missionary  Magazine"  for  January,  1900,  gives 
a  list  of  seventeen  of  these  honored  sons  and  daugh- 
ters of  venerated  parents,  who  have  entered  most 
usefully  upon  the  fields  and  services  of  their  fore- 
bears— in  some  instances  to  the  second  generation. 
There  is  not  only  peculiar  appropriateness  in  the 
children  following  in  the  footsteps  of  their  fathers 
in  missionary  labors,  but  many  practical  advantages. 
Few  natives  of  America  can  ever  acquire  an  Eastern 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    BURMA    119 

tongue  so  as  to  speak  it  with  the  same  facility  as  a 
native  of  these  countries.  Correct  grammatical  un- 
derstanding of  a  language  may  be  obtained  and 
ability  to  preach  the  gospel  with  clearness,  and  pos- 
sibly with  some  force,  but  few,  if  any  missionaries, 
natives  of  the  West,  have  ever  been  able  to  preach 
the  gospel  of  Christ  in  any  Eastern  tongue  with 
genuine  fluency  and  eloquence.  Children  of  mis- 
sionaries, however,  born  in  an  Eastern  land,  and 
having  acquired  some  facility  in  pronunciation  of 
the  languages  while  young,  even  though  they  may 
have  spent  years  of  residence  in  America  for  educa- 
tion, on  their  return  to  Asia  soon  acquire  an  enviable 
facility  in  the  use  of  the  native  dialects.  Men  like 
J.  B.  Vinton,  Edward  O.  Stevens,  and  Willis  F. 
Thomas  have  peculiar  advantages  in  missionary 
work  for  the  people  among  whom  they  were  born, 
both  in  facility  in  speech  and  in  familiarity  with 
the  customs,  sentiments,  and  habits  of  the  people. 

Baptist  missions  in  Burma  among  all  races  have 
been  advancing  with  a  sure  and  steady  progress 
from  year  to  year.  On  no  other  field  of  American 
Baptist  missions  has  there  been  gained  so  much  de- 
velopment in  all  the  elements  of  Christian  and 
church  life  as  understood  among  the  churches  in 
America.  Self-support  has  become  the  rule  in  by  far 
the  larger  number  of  the  fields  of  Burma.  In  the  re- 
port of  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union  for 
1900,  of  the  six  hundred  and  eighty-five  churches  in 
Burma  no  less  than  four  hundred  and  eighty-two  were 


120  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

entirely  self-supporting,  and  this  satisfactory  indica- 
tion of  genuine  strength  and  growth  of  the  churches 
of  Burma  is  rapidly  increasing  from  year  to  year. 
This  self-support  is  supplemented  by  an  encour- 
aging degree  of  self-dependence  and  self-manage- 
ment, which  has  found  expression  not  only  in  the 
local  Associations  established  on  the  plan  of  Bap- 
tist Associations  in  America,  but  in  the  Burman 
Baptist  Missionary  Convention,  organized  in  1865. 
This  Convention,  aside  from  its  usual  offices  as  rep- 
resenting all  Baptist  interests  in  Burma,  is  carry- 
ing on  independent  missions  at  its  own  cost,  having 
maintained  for  several  years  missionaries  to  the 
Karens  in  Northern  Siam,  as  the  Bassein  Karens 
have  sustained  several  representatives  of  their  own 
among  the  Kachins  in  the  region  of  Bhamo,  Upper 
Burma. 

This  large  development  of  all  the  substantial 
features  of  Christian  life  and  growth  has  made  neces- 
sary increased  efforts  for  the  training  of  leaders  for 
the  Baptists  in  Burma  in  their  important  and  grow- 
ing enterprises.  Rangoon  Baptist  College  has  in- 
creased to  an  attendance  of  more  than  five  hundred 
in  all  the  departments.  The  theological  seminary 
at  Insein  is  the  largest  in  Asia,  and  has  grown  in 
numbers  and  usefulness,  sending  out  yearly  Burmans, 
Karens,  Shans,  and  representatives  of  other  races, 
in  numbers,  who  become  qualified  and  successful 
leaders  of  their  own  people  in  the  work  of  the 
Lord.    In  short,  in  all   the  elements  of  an  estab- 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    BURMA    12J 

lished  Christian  community,  the  Baptists  in  Burma 
have  achieved  marked  success  and  a  satisfactory 
growth,  and  stand  with  the  Sandwich  Islands  and 
a  few  other  of  the  island  groups  in  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  as  the  only  representatives  of  fields  in 
which  foreign  missions  have  shown  a  near  approach 
to  the  ultimate  object  of  all  missionary  work,  the 
establishment  of  an  indigenous,  self-supporting,  self- 
managing  and  self-propagating  Christianity. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

BAPTIST    MISSION    WORK    IN    ASSAM 

ASSAM,  the  most  northeastern  province  of  Brit- 
ish India,  is  a  territory  that  is  marked  by  a 
large  variety  and  peculiarity  of  conditions.  While 
the  area  as  ordinarily  computed  is  named  at  forty- 
nine  thousand  square  miles,  the  limits  of  the  coun- 
try are  indefinite.  The  central  part  of  Assam  for 
the  whole  length  is  occupied  by  the  marshy  Brahma- 
putra Valley,  while  both  the  Himalaya  Mountains 
on  the  north  and  the  ranges  of  mountains  intervening 
between  Assam  and  Burma  on  the  south,  offer  great 
changes  of  climate  and  homes  for  a  large  number 
of  wild  tribes.  In  its  population  of  five  million 
and  a  half  are  found  almost  as  great  a  variety  of 
races  as  in  Burma  ;  but  the  whole  population  may 
be  roughly  divided  between  the  Hindu  Assamese  of 
the  Brahmaputra  Valley  and  the  animistic  tribes 
occupying  the  hills  to  the  north  and  south.  In  ad- 
dition to  these  there  are  coming  an  increasing  popu- 
lation of  immigrants  from  Chota  Nagpur  and  other 
provinces  of  Central  India,  who  labor  in  the  tea 
gardens.  Baptist  missionary  work  in  Assam  has 
found  its  field  of  operations  among  these  three  divi- 
sions of  people,  the  greatest  success  being  among 
122 


BAPTIST    MISSION    WORK    IN    ASSAM  123 

the  animistic  people  and  the  immigrants,  or  labor- 
ers in  the  tea  gardens. 

Sadiya,  the  first  station  occupied  in  Assam,  was 
in  the  extreme  northeastern  portion  of  the  country. 
This  station  was  soon  abandoned  on  account  of  the 
turbulence  of  the  people,  whose  fierceness  was  be- 
yond the  control  of  the  English  authorities.  Before 
its  abandonment,  however,  it  became  the  scene 
of  one  of  the  tragedies  of  our  Baptist  foreign  mis- 
sions. In  1837  Rev.  Jacob  Thomas  was  sent  as  a 
missionary  to  reinforce  the  laborers  at  Sadiya.  He 
made  the  journey  by  vessel  from  America  to  Cal- 
cutta in  safety,  and  the  long  journey  by  land  and 
river  across  Bengal  and  the  length  of  the  Brahmapu- 
tra, until  within  a  few  miles  of  Sadiya.  The  voyage 
of  the  missionary  party  up  the  Brahmaputra  was  made 
in  canoes,  and  after  his  long  and  perilous  journey, 
just  before  arriving  at  his  destination,  while  the 
canoe  was  tied  to  the  bank  preparatory  to  rest  for 
the  night,  a  tree  from  a  part  of  the  bank  which  had 
been  undermined  by  the  floods,  falling  across  the 
canoe,  crushed  Mr.  Thomas,  and  this  young  and 
promising  life  was  ended  when  just  entering  upon 
missionary  labor. 

After  the  abandonment  of  Sadiya,  Sibsagor,  to 
the  southwest,  opened  in  1841,  Nowgong,  still 
farther  to  the  southwest,  opened  the  same  year,  and 
Gauhati,  still  nearer  Bengal,  opened  in  1843,  con- 
tinued to  be  the  centers  of  missionary  work  in 
Assam  for  a  period  of  thirty-three  years,  with  the 


124  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

exception  of  Goalpara,  opened  as  a  station  for  work 
among  the  Garos  in  1867.  This  long  period,  with- 
out any  sensible  expansion  of  the  work,  is  a  true 
index  of  the  character  of  the  early  missionary  labors 
in  the  Brahmaputra  Valley.  The  Hinduized  As- 
samese are  bigoted  in  the  extreme,  and  although  a 
large  amount  of  persistent  and  devoted  labor  has 
been  given  to  their  salvation,  even  at  the  present 
day  but  a  comparatively  small  number  have  been 
won  to  the  gospel  of  Christ.  If  it  had  been  only 
among  the  Assamese  that  our  missionaries  labored, 
Assam  would  have  been  abandoned  as  a  mission 
field  long  ago.  In  1842  was  established  by  Rev. 
Miles  Bronson  the  Nowgong  Orphan  Institution,  in 
which  a  considerable  number  of  preachers  and  other 
laborers  among  the  Assamese  were  trained,  and  which 
has  furnished  nearly  all  the  leading  native  laborers 
among  the  missions  to  the  Assamese  to  the  present 
day.  Rev.  Nathan  Brown  translated  the  New  Tes- 
tament into  Assamese,  and  others  various  books  of 
the  Old  Testament,  but  the  completion  of  the  Bible 
was  assigned  to  Rev.  A.  K.  Gurney,  who  went  to 
Assam  in  1875  for  this  special  work.  In  1889, 
after  twenty-four  years  devoted  to  this  service,  the 
translation  and  revision  of  the  Old  Testament  and 
also  the  revision  of  the  New  were  declared  completed 
and  ready  for  publication.  Dr.  Miles  Bronson  was 
the  author  of  an  Assamese  Dictionary,  which  re- 
mains a  useful  monument  to  his  long-continued  and 
faithful  labors  for  the  Assamese. 


BAPTIST    MISSION    WORK    IN    ASSAM  125 

As  already  intimated,  the  most  promising  fields 
for  missions  in  Assam  have  been  found  among  the 
animistic  tribes  on  the  hills  and  the  laborers  in  the 
tea  gardens.  The  first  of  these  tribes  to  feel  the  in- 
Huence  of  the  truth  in  a  decided  manner  was  the 
Garos,  in  the  southwestern  portion  of  Assam.  These 
were  reached  from  Goalpara,  and  the  first  converts 
showed  a  marked  independence  and  energy  in 
evangelistic  labors  for  their  fellow-tribesmen.  So 
much  interest  was  excited  that  in  1878  Rev.  Marcus 
C.  Mason  and  Rev.  E.  G.  Phillips  decided  to  re- 
move the  headquarters  of  the  Garo  mission  from 
Goalpara  to  the  English  government  station  on  the 
Garo  Hills,  at  Tura.  This  movement  proved  wise 
and  the  cause  of  great  prosperity  in  the  Garo  mis- 
sion. Messrs.  Mason  and  Phillips  were  class  com- 
panions in  their  studies  in  college  and  in  the  theo- 
logical seminary.  They  married  sisters  in  Hamil- 
ton, N.  Y.,  and  throughout  their  missionary  life 
have  labored  in  the  same  fellowship  and  unity  which 
marked  their  earlier  years.  Under  their  leadership 
the  Garo  mission,  with  headquarters  at  Tura,  has 
made  remarkable  progress  and  proved  to  be  one  of 
the  most  aggressive,  self-reliant,  prosperous,  and 
promising  missions  of  the  American  Baptist  Mis- 
sionary Union,  reporting  in  1900  more  than  four 
thousand  church-members.  This  mission,  however, 
is  not  more  noted  for  its  prosperity  and  increase  in 
the  number  of  converts  than  for  the  independence 
and    self-reliance    of  the    Garo    Christians.     They 


126  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

have  their  Associations,  organized  on  the  plan  of 
the  Baptist  Associations  in  America,  which  are  con- 
ducted wholly  by  the  natives,  missionaries  being 
present  simply  for  interest  and  occasional  advice. 
They  not  only  maintain  their  own  churches,  but  the 
Associations  have  their  own  missionaries  who  labor 
among  their  own  people,  and  they  are  also  sending 
out  gospel  laborers  to  adjoining  tribes.  Tura  itself 
is  a  model  of  what  a  central  missionary  station 
should  be,  having  its  schools  of  various  grades,  with 
industrial  features,  and  a  training  school  for  native 
workers,  which  supplies  the  virile  and  vigorous 
Garo  churches  with  preachers  and  teachers. 

Next  in  prosperity  after  the  Garo  mission  comes 
that  to  the  immigrant  laborers  in  the  tea  gardens  of 
Assam.  Tea  culture  in  Assam  is  in  a  high  state  of 
development,  the  teas  of  Assam  being  the  choicest 
in  the  world,  and  this  commercial  enterprise  in  the 
Brahmaputra  Valley  is  rapidly  extending.  The 
successful  extension  of  this  business  calls  for  a  large 
number  of  new  laborers,  who  are  brought  in  from 
the  central  provinces  of  India,  principally  from 
Chota  Nagpur.  These  people  in  their  early  homes 
have  become  somewhat  familiar  with  Christianity 
from  the  missionaries  of  the  Gossner  Society,  of  Ger- 
many, and  being  little  affected  by  Hinduism,  and 
having  a  religion  similar  in  its  nature  to  that  of 
the  animistic  tribes  in  the  hills  of  Assam,  they 
proved  ready  and  willing  hearers  of  the  gospel 
and    have    been    received    into     the    churches    in 


BAPTIST    MISSION    WORK    IN    ASSAM  127 

large  numbers.  The  Gologhat  station,  the  most 
recently  opened  field  among  them,  received  one 
hundred  and  seven  members  into  the  church  in 
the  first  year  of  its  existence,  1898  ;  hundreds 
also  have  been  baptized  in  connection  with  the  mis- 
sion at  Sibsagor  by  Rev.  C.  E.  Petrick,  and  the 
work  at  North  Lakhimpur,  on  the  north  side  of  the 
river,  under  Rev.  John  Firth,  and  among  the  same 
people,  is  rapidly  extending. 

The  successful  work  among  the  large  and  power- 
ful Naga  tribes  in  the  southern  hills  of  Assam  was 
inaugurated  by  Rev.  E.  W.  Clark,  who  in  1875  re- 
solved  to  abandon  the  comparatively  fruitless  work 
among  the  Assamese  and  devote  himself  especially 
to  work  for  the  Naga  tribes.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clark, 
with  remarkable  heroism,  established  themselves  at 
Molung  in  1876,  far  in  advance  of  the  farthest  out- 
posts of  the  British  government  and  among  a  com- 
paratively wild  and  uncivilized  and  presumably 
savage  people.  They  were,  however,  received  with 
cordiality,  and  with  one  or  two  exceptions  have  been 
exposed  to  little  peril  from  their  savage  surround- 
ings. Their  long  and  persistent  labors  have  been 
rewarded  by  the  conversion  to  Christianity  of  almost 
the  entire  people  of  the  village  of  Molung,  where 
there  is  now  the  largest  and  most  prosperous  church 
in  the  Naga  mission.  For  various  reasons  the  head- 
quarters of  the  mission  were  removed  a  few  years 
ago  to  Impur,  where  a  training  school  for  native 
Nagas  was  opened  by  Rev.  S.  A.  Perrine  in  1898. 


128  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

A  station  among  theNagas  was  also  opened,  in  1881, 
at  Kohiina,  the  headquarters  of  the  English  govern- 
ment among  the  Angami  Nagas,  and  later,  in  1896, 
a  station  among  the  Tangkul  Nagals  was  founded  by 
Rev.  William  Pettigrew  at  Ukrul,  Manipur.  Both 
Kohima  and  Ukrul  are  on  or  near  the  high  road 
between  Assam  and  Burma,  Ukrul  being  only  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  north  of  the  most  re- 
cently opened  station  at  Haka,  among  the  Chins  of 
northwestern  Burma.  The  establishment  of  these 
stations  points  to  an  early  and  intimate  union  of  the 
Baptist  mission  work  in  Burma  and  Assam. 

The  success  of  the  work  among  the  Garos,  Nagas, 
and  other  animistic  tribes  of  the  hills,  encouraged 
the  establishment  of  missionary  work  among  other 
tribes  of  this  same  class  of  people.  Rev.  Penn  E. 
Moore,  brother  of  Rev.  Pitt  H.  Moore,  long  the 
leading  missionary  in  the  work  for  the  Assamese  in 
Nowgong,  with  Rev.  J.  M.  Carvell,  established  a 
work  among  the  Mikirs  to  the  south  of  Nowgong, 
about  1895.  The  Garo  Baptist  churches  are  send- 
ing missionaries  to  a  neighboring  tribe  called  the 
Rabhas,  for  whom  the  old  Garo  station  at  Goalpara 
has  recently  been  reopened  by  Rev.  A.  E.  Stephen. 
The  Garos  have  also  sent  a  missionary  to  labor 
among  the  tribes  to  the  north  of  the  Brahmaputra. 
From  past  experience  and  present  success  mission- 
ary labor  in  Assam  will  be  directed  chiefly  to  these 
simple  animistic  tribes,  who  are  more  ready  to  re- 
ceive the  gospel  than  the  bigoted  Hindu  Assamese. 


BAPTIST    MISSION    WORK    IN    ASSAM  129 

An  extremely  interesting  development  of  later 
missionary  work  in  Assam  appeared  in  the  opening 
of  a  mission  station  in  Dibrugarh,  in  the  extreme 
northeast  of  Assam,  as  a  center  for  work  on  the  same 
field  occupied  by  the  first  missionaries,  who  chose 
Sadiya  as  their  headquarters.  The  British  govern- 
ment has  now  established  itself  so  that  labors  in  this 
region  arc  pursued  with  entire  safety,  and  the 
growth  of  the  tea  industry  and  mining  operations 
and  the  development  of  oil  wells  in  this  region 
has  made  it  one  of  the  most  prosperous  in  Assam, 
in  a  commercial  sense,  and  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing for  missionary  work.  The  reoccupation  of  north- 
eastern Assam  also  brings  toward  an  early  realiza- 
tion the  dream  of  the  first  missionaries  in  Assam, 
that  the  Brahmaputra  Valley  might  prove  a  highway 
for  the  'gospel  of  Christ  to  Western  China,  and 
Tibet.  Both  of  these  territories  are  within  com- 
paratively easy  reach  of  the  latest  opened  missionary 
station  at  Dibrugarh. 

Owing  partially  to  the  diversity  of  interests  rep- 
resented in  the  missions,  but  more  to  the  slow  prog- 
ress of  the  work  in  its  earlier  years,  the  literary, 
educational,  and  church  development  of  the  missions 
in  Assam  has  far  from  equaled  that  accomplished 
in  the  missions  in  Burma  during  the  same  length  of 
time.  Aside  from  Dr.  Bronson's  Dictionary,  the 
translation  of  the  Bible  already  referred  to,  and  a 
hymn  book  in  Assamese,  the  missions  in  the  Brah- 
maputra  Valley    have    accomplished    little    along 


130  AMERICAN     BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

literary  or  educational  lines.  A  paper  in  Assamese, 
called  the  "  Orunodoi,"  started  in  1846  for  the 
benefit  of  the  native  Christians,  was  discontinued 
after  a  number  of  years.  In  the  Garo  mission,  how- 
ever, more  advancement  in  literature  can  be  re- 
corded. The  "  Achini  Ripeng,"  or  "  Garo  Friend," 
founded  by  Messrs.  Mason  and  Phillips,  in  1876, 
the  year  of  removal  to  Tura,  has  continued,  and 
has  been  a  source  of  great  helpfulness  in  the  mis- 
sionary work  and  in  the  enlargement  of  the  intelli- 
gence and  activity  of  the  Garo  Christians.  The 
church  life  among  the  Garo  Christians  is  also  dis- 
tinctly in  advance  in  independence  and  self-reliance 
as  well  as  self-support,  of  the  older  churches  of  the 
valley.  The  schools  in  the  Garo  Christian  villages 
are  entirely  independent  of  mission  support,  and 
furnish,  with  the  central  boarding  and  training- 
schools  at  Tura,  a  complete  course  of  education  and 
training  for  the  teachers  and  preachers  needed  in 
the  Garo  mission.  The  recently  rapidly  growing 
churches  among  the  Nagas  also  have  shown  great 
independence,  liberality,  and  self-reliance — qualities 
in  which  the  churches  among  the  tea-garden  labor- 
ers are  yet  lacking,  although  these  are  advancing 
rapidly  in  point  of  numbers.  According  to  the 
common  opinion  of  the  missionaries  in  all  depart- 
ments of  the  work  in  Assam,  the  great  need  of  the 
missions  is  a  central  training  or  biblical  school  for 
preparing  pastors  and  leaders  for  the  Christian 
churches  of  all  races  within  the  limits  of  Assam. 


BAPTIST    MISSION    WORK    IN    ASSAM  131 

The  rapid  increase  in  numbers  in  the  tea-garden 
churches  in  the  valley,  the  Garo  churches,  and 
the  Naga  churches  on  the  hills,  point  to  this  central 
educational  institution  as  an  imperative  necessity. 
By  the  prosperity  of  the  missions  among  the  Garos, 
the  Nagas,  and  the  tea-garden  laborers,  in  recent 
years,  the  character  of  the  missions  in  Assam  has 
been  transformed,  and  the  years  of  discouragement 
changed  into  a  future  bright  with  hope. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

BAPTIST   MISSIONS   IN   SOUTHERN    INDIA 

THE  American  Baptist  mission  among  the  Telu- 
gus  of  Southern  India  is  universally  regarded 
as  one  of  the  miracles  of  modern  missions.  Its  his- 
tory is  a  story  of  the  most  striking  contrasts  and 
the  greatest  successes.  The  story  of  the  mission 
may  be  divided  into  three  periods.  First,  the  long 
years  of  faithful  labor  with  little  fruit,  from  the 
beginning  of  the  mission  in  1836,  when  Nellore 
was  the  only  station — the  "Lone  Star"  of  the 
Telugu  mission.  Second,  the  gradual  growth  of 
the  mission,  from  the  establishment  of  Ongole, 
the  second  station,  in  1866,  to  December  31,  1876, 
when  there  were  four  thousand  three  hundred  and 
ninety-four  converts ;  and  third,  the  era  of  Pente- 
costal blessings  following  the  great  ingathering  after 
the  famine  of  1877  and  continuing  to  the  famine 
of  1900. 

The  founding  of  the  work  among  the  Telugus  is 
one  of  the  romantic  stories  of  our  missionary  history. 
After  the  death  of  the  Rev.  James  Colman,  of  Ar- 
akan,  referred  to  in  the  earlier  chapters  of  this  vol- 
ume, Mrs.  Colman  spent  some  years  in  Calcutta 
as  a  teacher  and  in  religious  work,  and  was  after- 
132 


BAPTIST   MISSIONS   IN    SOUTHERN    INDIA      133 

ward  married  to  Rev.  Amos  Sutton,  a  missionary  of 
the  English  Baptist  mission  in  Orissa.  In  1835 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sutton  were  on  a  visit  to  her  relatives 
in  America,  and  Mr.  Sutton  took  occasion  to  be 
present  at  the  meeting  of  the  Baptist  General  Mis- 
sionary Convention  held  in  Richmond,  Virginia. 
For  the  first  time  in  its  history  the  Convention  found 
itself  with  a  surplus  of  funds  in  the  treasury,  and  Mr. 
Sutton's  address  in  which  he  called  attention  to  the 
needs  of  the  Telugu  people  to  the  south  of  Orissa 
received  immediate  response.  The  next  year,  Rev. 
Samuel  S.  Day  went  out  to  India  and  became  the 
founder  of  the  American  Baptist  mission  among  the 
Telugus.  After  a  brief  sojourn  at  Vizagapatam  and 
Chicacole,  and  a  longer  stay  at  Madras,  he  located 
the  permanent  headquarters  of  the  mission  at  Nel- 
lore,  in  February,  1840,  where  he  was  joined  by 
Lyman  Jewett,  D.  d.,  in  1848.  For  a  long  time  the 
Telugu  people  proved  unresponsive  to  the  faithful  and 
diligent  labors  of  the  missionaries.  All  the  usual 
methods  of  missionary  work  were  pursued  with 
diligence  but  with  scant  success.  The  gospel  was 
faithfully  preached  by  the  missionaries  and  the 
native  helpers  they  had  gathered  about  them  in  all 
the  district  round  about  Nellore,  and  the  evangelistic 
tours  extended  even  as  far  north  as  Ongole. 

So  small  was  the  encouragement  in  the  number 
of  converts  gained  in  the  mission  that,  in  1848,  the 
question  of  the  abandonment  of  the  Telugu  mission 
was  raised  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Union  in 


134  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

Troy,  N.  Y.  The  feeling  of  opposition  to  the  mis- 
sion continued  to  grow  until,  at  the  annual  meeting 
held  in  Albany,  N.  Y.,  in  1853,  it  found  decided 
expression.  At  this  meeting  the  abandonment  of 
the  mission,  or  rather  its  transfer  to  the  more  prom- 
ising field  of  Burma,  across  the  bay  of  Bengal,  was 
earnestly  advocated  in  a  long  discussion  by  many  of 
the  ablest  leaders  in  the  denomination.  It  was  at 
this  meeting  that  the  historic  phrase,  the  "  Lone 
Star,"  was  coined  as  applied  to  Nellore,  the  single 
station  of  the  Telugu  mission.  After  many  argu- 
ments for  the  transfer  of  the  mission,  one  speaker, 
presumed  to  be  Edward  Bright,  D.  D.,  then  the  home 
secretary  of  the  Missionary  Union,  pointing  to  the 
map,  declared  that  he  would  never  write  the  letter 
calling  for  the  blotting  out  of  the  "Lone  Star"  on 
the  map  of  India.  The  name  fixed  itself  upon  the 
mind  of  Samuel  F.  Smith,  D.D.,  the  author  of  "  Amer- 
ica," and  in  the  night  he  penciled  on  some  stray 
sheets  of  paper  he  happened  to  have  by  him  the 
famous  poem,  "  The  Lone  Star."  The  poem  was 
read  in  the  meeting  of  the  Union  the  next  morning  ; 
but  already  the  tide  had  turned  and  it  was  resolved 
to  continue  the  Telugu  mission.  The  number  of 
converts  not  increasing,  however,  again  the  opposi- 
tion to  the  mission  arose  at  the  annual  meeting  in 
Providence,  in  1862,  and  after  discussion  it  was  re- 
solved to  await  the  arrival  of  Rev.  Lyman  Jewett, 
then  on  his  way  to  America.  After  Doctor  Jewett's 
arrival,  upon    meeting   the   executive     committee, 


BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    SOUTHERN    INDIA      135 

the  situation  was  placed  before  him,  and  his  reply 
was,  that  whatever  the  executive  committee  or  the 
Missionary  Union  did,  his  determination  was  never 
to  abandon  the  Telugus.  The  reply  of  Jonah  G. 
Warren,  d.  d.,  then  foreign  secretary  of  the  Union, 
was  equally  historic  :  "  Well,  Brother  Jewett,  if  you 
are  resolved  to  return  to  India,  we  must  send  some 
one  with  you  to  give  you  a  Christian  burial  in  that 
heathen  land."  So  the  Telugu  mission  was  not 
only  continued,  but  reinforced. 

On  the  first  Monday  in  January,  1854,  was  held 
one  of  the  most  celebrated  prayer  meetings  in  the 
history  of  Christian  missions.  It  was  attended  by 
only  five  persons,  Doctor  Jewett,  Mrs.  Jewett, 
Christian  Nursu,  a  native  preacher,  and  two  Chris- 
tian Bible  women,  Julia  and  Ruth.  The  meeting- 
was  held  on  top  of  a  hill  overlooking  the  village  of 
Ongole.  A  heathen  temple  adorned  the  slope  of 
the  hill  and  below  them  stretched  the  large  village, 
as  yet  utterly  given  over  to  heathenism.  Each  of 
the  five  earnestly  prayed  in  turn  for  a  missionary 
for  Ongole.  Mr.  Jewett's  faith  arose  to  the  height 
of  believing  that  the  prayers  would  be  answered, 
and  pointing  to  a  lovely  and  sightly  spot,  as  yet  en- 
tirely overgrown  with  cactus,  he  said:  "Julia, 
would  not  that  be  a  good  place  for  a  mission  house  ?" 
That  was  the  spot  on  which  the  house  of  the  first 
missionary  to  Ongole  was  situated.  In  April  of  that 
same  year  Mr.  James  Wilkins  was  sent  from  Nel- 
lore  to  take  up  government  work   in  Ongole.     He 


136  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

chose  this  very  spot  for  which  prayer  had  been 
made  and  built  a  house  upon  it.  When  he  was 
transferred  from  Ongole  his  house  passed  into  other 
hands.  In  1860,  Lieutenant  Lugard,  a  Christian 
officer  appointed  to  Ongole,  took  tea  with  Mr.  Jewett 
at  Nellore.  When  he  arrived  at  Ongole  he  bought 
this  house,  and  on  leaving  the  place  the  next  year 
he  notified  Mr.  Jewett  that  he  could  have  it  for 
fifteen  hundred  rupees.  Mr.  Jewett  borrowed  five 
hundred  rupees  to  pay  the  cash  required  and  wrote 
to  Mr.  Reuben  Wright,  a  gentleman  living  in  the 
West  and  an  old  schoolmate  of  Mr.  Jewett's  in 
Worcester  Academy,  for  help.  Mr.  Wright  sent 
the  balance  needed  for  the  purchase  of  the  house. 
So  the  prayers  offered  on  Prayer  Meeting  Hill,  as 
it  has  long  been  known,  began  to  be  answered.  The 
complete  answer  came  in  1866. 

In  1864,  just  as  the  American  Baptist  missions 
were  entering  upon  the  second  half-century  of  their 
existence,  a  young  man  from  Iowa  presented  him- 
self to  the  executive  committee  of  the  American 
Baptist  Missionary  Union  as  a  candidate  for  ap- 
pointment as  a  missionary.  The  impression  which 
lie  produced  at  first  was  not  the  most  favorable. 
As  he  was  leaving  the  committee  room  after  re- 
lating his  Christian  experience  and  call  to  mis- 
sionary labor,  Doctor  Baron  Stow  asked  him  what 
he  would  do  if  the  committee  should  not  decide 
to  send  him  as  a  missionary  to  India.  His  modest 
but  firm  reply,  was,  "  Then  I  must  find  some  other 


BAPTIST   MISSIONS    IN   SOUTHERN    INDIA     137 

way  to  go."  The  committee  decided  to  appoint 
him,  and  the  result  of  this  appointment  was  the 
securing-  of  John  E.  Clough  to  the  American  Bap- 
tist Telugu  mission  in  India.  There  were  certain 
indications  of  special  providence  in  the  connection 
of  Doctor  Clough  with  this  mission.  First,  he  was 
born  the  same  year  in  which  the  mission  was  estab- 
lished. God  raised  him  up  at  the  same  time  that 
he  organized  the  mission,  and  through  the  long 
years  of  its  slow  progress  he  was  gradually  reaching 
man's  estate  and  obtaining  his  preparation  for  mis- 
sionary work.  Secondly,  he  had  some  acquaintance 
with  civil  engineering  before  going  as  a  missionary, 
and  so  was  prepared  to  take  the  contract  for  digging 
four  miles  of  the  Buckingham  Canal,  by  which  he 
was  enabled  to  save  the  lives  of  many  thousands 
during  the  great  famine  of  1876-1877.  Third,  his 
eminent  executive  abilities  were  such  as  to  keep 
everything  in  the  completest  order  and  efficiency 
when  the  converts  began  to  come  into  the  mission 
in  such  multitudes. 

The  story  of  the  famine  and  the  great  ingathering 
among  the  Telugus  of  the  Ongole  District  in  India 
is  one  of  the  most  thrilling  of  Christian  history. 
It  has  often  been  related,  but  even  at  the  risk  of 
repetition  cannot  be  omitted  from  such  a  work  as 
this.  The  following  account  was  taken  down  from 
the  lips  of  Doctor  Clough  himself  during  one  of  his 
visits  to  America : 

In    July,   1876,    the    usual    southwest  monsoon, 


138  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

which  sprouts  and  waters  the  young  rice  crop,  failed 
entirely,  and  also  the  northwest  monsoon  in  October. 
All  now  saw  that  a  famine  was  inevitable,  and  word 
was  sent  to  England  and  America,  and  to  every 
place  from  which  aid  could  be  expected  that  unless 
help  was  received  many  thousands  of  the  people 
must  perish.  Generous  responses  were  received, 
and  the  starving  Telugus  were  carried  on  till  the 
next  June  when  they  were  furnished  with  seed 
grain,  and  their  fields  planted.  But  no  sooner  was 
the  young  crop  fairly  up  than  a  long  rain  came  on, 
and  all  the  rice  rotted  in  the  ground.  Again  was 
seed  grain  furnished  for  the  October  monsoon,  and 
the  growing  crop  gave  promise  of  a  harvest  when 
clouds  of  locusts  came,  obscuring  even  the  sun  at 
noonday  and  the  crop  was  again  destroyed  before 
the  hungry  eyes  of  the  helpless  people.  But  help 
was  received  from  every  quarter,  and  through  the 
committees  and  sub-committees  of  the  relief  fund 
food  was  distributed  and  the  lives  of  the  people 
saved. 

One  of  the  measures  of  relief  adopted  by  the 
government  was  the  construction  of  the  Buckingham 
Canal  from  Madras  to  a  point  near  Ongole,  which 
furnished  employment  to  thousands  of  Telugus  and 
enabled  them  to  keep  themselves  and  their  families 
from  starvation.  Doctor  Clough  took  the  contract 
for  the  construction  of  four  miles  of  this  canal.  He 
sent  couriers  throughout  all  the  Ongole  district  to 
tell  the  people  that  there  was  plenty  of  work  for 


BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IX    SOUTHERN    INDIA      139 

all,  and  that  he  would  see  that  they  were  well 
treated,  and  all  who  could  not  work  should  be  cared 
for,  so  the  people  came  by  thousands  to  his  camp 
on  the  line  of  the  canal.  The  native  Christian 
preachers  he  appointed  overseers  in  the  work.  Each 
had  his  appointed  number  of  laborers,  and  when  they 
were  not  at  work  the  preacher  read  the  Bible  to 
them  and  taught  them  of  the  gospel.  After  gain- 
ing a  little  strength  and  money  some  would  return 
to  their  homes,  and  others  would  come  in  their 
places,  so  that  while  the  camp  contained  perhaps 
six  thousand  people  at  a  time,  the  population  was 
constantly  changing,  and  many  times  that  number 
became  familiar  with  its  blessings  before  the  work 
was  finished  and  the  famine  ended.  In  all  this 
time  none  were  received  into  the  church,  although 
many  applied  for  baptism.  On  Christmas  morning, 
1877,  Doctor  Clough  awoke  to  find  the  mission 
compound  at  Ongole  filled  with  a  multitude  of  two 
thousand  three  hundred  persons,  who  had  come  to 
him  to  ask  to  be  baptized,  but  he  declined  to  re- 
ceive them,  fearing  they  were  moved  by  a  desire  to 
obtain  help  in  their  distress,  rather  than  by  a  sin- 
cere love  for  the  truth. 

In  June,  1878,  after  the  fourth  distribution  of 
seed  grain  was  planted,  word  was  sent  through  all 
the  district  that  the  people  must  care  for  them- 
selves, the  people  of  England  and  America  could 
do  no  more.  And  now  that  the  Telugus  could  ex- 
pect no   more  aid  from  him  as  chairman  of  the  re- 


140  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

lief  committee,  Doctor  Clough  thought  he  might 
begin  to  baptize  those  who  were  applying.  He  told 
the  preachers  to  give  him  the  names  of  the  most 
important  men  in  the  villages,  of  heads  of  families, 
whom  they  believed  to  be  true  Christians,  and  these 
to  the  number  of  about  three  hundred  were  sum- 
moned to  Ongole,  and  after  proper  examination, 
baptized.  A  few  days  after,  about  three  hundred! 
more,  having  heard  of  the  baptism  of  the  others, 
came  in  and,  with  the  same  preliminary  care,  were 
received.  Doctor  Clough  now  began  to  see  that  it 
would  be  necessary  to  take  more  adequate  measures 
to  deal  with  the  wonderful  work  which  God  was 
evidently  doing  among  this  people.  He,  therefore, 
sent  each  preacher  to  his  field  with  instructions  to 
carefully  examine  all  who  desired  baptism,  and  call 
a  limited  number  to  meet  him  on  a  certain  day  at 
Vilumpilly,  on  the  banks  of  the  Gundalacuma 
River,  north  of  Ongole,  but  not  to  let  a  large  multi- 
tude of  the  people  come.  The  morning  after  his 
arrival  there,  to  his  astonishment,  Doctor  Clough 
found  the  fields  about  his  bungalow  filled  with  a 
multitude  of  people  who  had  disregarded  the  com- 
mands of  the  preachers,  and  although  still  weak 
from  the  effects  of  the  famine,  had  come,  many  of 
them,  long  distances  to  claim  the  privilege  of  put- 
ting on  the  Lord  Jesus  in  his  appointed  way.  Then 
was  the  Scripture  fulfilled,  "  The  kingdom  of  heaven 
suffercth  violence  and  the  violent  take  it  by  force." 
Each  preacher  was  told  to  gather  the  people  from 


BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN   SOUTHERN    INDIA      141 

his  field  about  him  under  the  shade  of  a  particular 
tamarind  tree,  and  soon  in  "God's  first  temples" 
forty  or  more  inquiry  meetings  were  in  progress, 
superintended  by  the  missionary  passing  from  one 
to  another.  July  1,  the  careful  examinations 
were  all  completed,  and  the  names  of  those  con- 
sidered prepared  for  baptism  taken  down  and  handed 
to  Doctor  Clough. 

At  Vilumpilly  the  government  road  from  Ongole 
to  Hyderabad  crosses  the  Gundalacuma  River, 
whose  banks  rise  precipitously  about  twenty  feet 
above  high  water  mark.  The  macadamized  road 
slopes  down  through  the  bank  from  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  yards  away  from  the  river  to  the  bed 
of  the  stream,  which  is  nearly  dry  in  the  dry  season. 
It  was  now  high  water  and  the  stream  backed  up 
into  the  cut  made  for  the  road,  with  its  hard  and 
sloping  bottom  forming  a  natural  baptistery  un- 
surpassed for  convenience  and  fitness.  Early  in  the 
morning  the  people  gathered  on  the  sides  of  the  cut 
above  the  road.  Two  preachers  descended  the  slop- 
ing bed  of  the  road  into  the  water,  two  clerks  on 
each  side  the  cut  called  the  names  of  the  candidates 
in  order,  and  thus,  first  one  preacher  baptizing  a 
candidate  and  then  the  other,  the  holy  work  pro- 
ceeded from  six  in  the  morning  till  ten  in  the  fore- 
noon. The  preachers  were  relieved  by  two  others 
every  hour,  so  that  they  might  not  become  weary 
or  chilled,  and  thus  all  the  six  ordained  native 
preachers  connected  with  the  Ongole  mission  were 


142  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

permitted  to  have  a  part  in  this  marvelous  scene. 
At  two  in  the  afternoon  the  baptizing  was  resumed, 
and  between  five  and  six  o'olock  in  the  evening  all 
was  done.  Two  thousand,  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
two  persons  had  been  baptized  in  a  single  day,  July 
3,  1878,  only  two  persons  administering  the  ordi- 
nance at  one  time,  and  all  was  done  decently  and  in 
order.  Thus  was  forever  disproved  the  argument 
that  it  was  impossible  for  three  thousand  to  be  im- 
mersed in  a  day  as  related  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles. All  the  circumstances  being  considered,  it 
must  be  confessed  that  this  was  the  most  wondrous 
scene  which  the  church  of  Christ  has  ever  witnessed 
since  the  day  of  Pentecost.  Some  of  the  monks  and 
bishops  of  the  Middle  Ages  may  have  baptized 
larger  numbers  in  a  single  day,  but  they  are  not 
supposed  to  have  been  genuine  spiritual  converts, 
carefully  examined  before  reception,  as  were  these, 
and  the  firmness  and  consistency  with  which  these 
Christians  have  since  maintained  their  profession 
has  proved  how  thorough  and  careful  was  the  work 
of  the  preliminary  examination. 

But  this  was  not  the  end.  Doctor  Clough  called 
Mr.  Williams,  of  Ramapatam  to  his  aid,  and  the  one 
to  the  West  and  the  other  to  the  North,  they  jour- 
neyed with  their  native  preachers  throughout  all 
the  Ongole  field  of  ten  thousand  square  miles, 
preaching  and  baptizing,  until,  before  the  end  of  the 
year,  nine  thousand  were  added  to  the  church,  and 
the  largest  Baptist  church  in  the  world  was  found, 


BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    SOUTHERN    INDIA     143 

not  in  England,  America,  or  Germany,  but  in  India 
among  the  Telugus,  "Hindus  of  the  Hindus,"  in 
that  mission  which  less  than  twenty  years  before 
the  Baptists  of  America  had  well-nigh  abandoned 
because  of  its  unfruitfulness. 

The  people  of  India  are  divided  into  five  classes, 
the  Brahman,  or  priest,  Kshatrya,  or  warrior, 
Vaisya,  or  merchant,  and  Sudra,  or  farmer  castes. 
The  fifth  class  is  composed  of  those  who  from  va- 
rious reasons  have  no  standing  in  the  castes,  and 
are  called  in  general,  pariah,  or  out-caste  people. 
Each  one  of  the  castes,  however,  and  peculiarly  the 
out-castes,  is  subdivided  into  almost  innumerable 
classes,  principally  according  to  occupations.  In 
India  it  is  customary  for  sons  to  follow  in  the  foot- 
steps of  their  fathers  in  regard  to  trade  or  occupa- 
tion, and  so  in  time  these  distinctions  come  to  have 
the  force  of  castes,  and  are  insisted  on  with  as 
much  strength  as  the  divisions  between  the  four  great 
and  original  castes  of  India.  Nearly  all  the  con- 
verts at  Ongole  were  from  the  pariahs,  and  almost 
all  from  one  special  division  of  the  pariah,  or  out- 
caste  people,  called  Madaga,  who  are  leather 
workers.  It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  note  that  in  the 
various  missions,  while  caste  distinctions  have  not 
been  allowed  to  be  retained  by  the  converts,  the 
progress  of  the  gospel  has  been  chiefly  along  class 
lines.  For  example,  while  the  very  large  majority 
of  the  converts  of  the  American  Baptist  mission 
among   the   Telugus    has    been    from  the  Madaga 


144  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

caste,  an  equally  large  proportion  of  the  converts 
in  the  Canadian  Baptist  mission  among  the  Tel- 
ugus  to  the  north  are  from  the  Mala,  or  weaver 
caste.  This  peculiarity  of  the  extension  of  Chris- 
tianity in  India  is  not  the  result  of  methods  of  mis- 
sionary work,  but  rather  goes  to  show  that  the  gos- 
pel has  moved  along  the  lines  of  least  resistance  in 
the  various  missions.  Whenever  it  has  obtained  a 
hold  upon  one  class  it  has  gained  a  greater  number 
of  converts  in  that  class,  while  in  other  missions 
other  castes  or  classes  have  been  affected  in  a  sim- 
ilar manner. 

A  peculiar  providence  in  the  early  history  of  the 
mission  at  Ongole  led  to  the.  opening  of  the  gospel 
to  the  Madaga  people.  When  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clough 
first  began  missionary  work  in  Ongole,  the  caste 
people  were  greatly  interested  and  were  the  first  to 
visit  the  mission  compound,  and  the  most  ready 
hearers  of  the  gospel.  Numbers  of  them  came 
daily  to  be  taught  in  the  truth.  After  a  time  a  few 
of  the  out-castes  also  became  interested  in  the  gos- 
pel. The  missionaries  preached  to  both  alike.  But 
as  the  number  of  pariahs  visiting  the  mission  com- 
pound began  to  increase,  the  prejudices  of  the  caste 
people  were  aroused,  and  after  consultation  a  dele- 
gation informed  Mr.  Clough  that  their  religion 
would  not  allow  them  to  associate  with  the  pariah 
people,  and  if  these  were  allowed  to  come  to  the 
compound  to  listen  to  the  gospel,  they,  the  higher 
castes,  would    be  obliged  to  withdraw.     This  an- 


BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    SOUTHERN    INDIA      140 

nouncement  brought  great  perplexity  to  the  devoted 
missionaries,  for  they  were  greatly  interested  in  the 
more  intelligent  and  prosperous  caste  people,  and 
earnestly  desired  to  retain  their  influence  on  the 
side  of  the  mission  and  of  Christianity,  realizing 
what  a  power  it  would  be  if  some  of  these  high 
caste  people  should  be  brought  to  a  knowledge  of 
the  truth.  While  the  missionaries  were  in  this  per- 
plexity, not  knowing  what  course  to  pursue,  it  is  re- 
lated that  Mr.  Clough,  in  passing  by  a  pile  of  Tel- 
ngu  New  Testaments  and  taking  the  one  from  the 
top  of  the  pile,  it  seemed  to  open  of  itself  to  1  Cor. 
1  :  26-29  :  "  For  ye  see  your  calling,  brethren, 
how  that  not  many  wise  men  after  the  flesh,  not 
many  mighty,  not  many  noble  are  called  :  but  God 
hath  chosen  the  foolish  things  of  the  world  to  con- 
found the  wise ;  and  God  hath  chosen  the  weak 
things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  things  which 
are  mighty ;  and  base  things  of  the  world,  and 
things  which  are  despised,  hath  God  chosen,  yea, 
and  things  which  are  not,  to  bring  to  nought  things 
that  are  :  that  no  flesh  should  glory  in  his  pres- 
ence." This  incident,  which  appeared  to  him  prov- 
idential, brought  comfort  and  clearness  and  decision 
'to  his  perplexed  mind.  On  consulting  with  Mrs. 
Clough  he  found  that  her  mind  had  also  been  turned 
to  the  same  passage,  and  their  resolve  was  taken  ; 
they  would  preach  the  gospel  to  all  who  were  will- 
ing to  hear  without  regard  to  class  or  condition. 
The  representatives  of  the  caste  people,  on  receiv- 


146  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

ing  this  decision,  withdrew  from  the  mission,  and 
even  to  the  present  day  but  few  have  been  converted 
to  Christ,  while  the  despised  pariahs  by  thousands 
have  been  received  into  the  kingdom. 

The  necessity  of  a  trained  ministry  for  the  mul- 
titudes of  converts  whom  the  missionaries  saw  by 
faith  gathered  into  Christian  churches  was  early 
recognized,  and  in  1869  a  mission  station  was 
founded  at  Ramapatam  by  Rev.  R.  R.  Williams, 
with  a  theological  school  for  the  training  of  pastors 
and  evangelists  for  the  Baptist  Telugu  mission. 
Its  foundations  were  laid  broad  and  deep.  Rama- 
patam was  selected  as  a  central  locality,  and  a  large 
amount  of  land  was  pre-empted  which  has  proved 
helpful  and  exceedingly  valuable  in  later  years. 
During  his  visit  to  America  in  1872  Doctor  Clough 
raised  thirty  thousand  dollars  for  the  endowment  of 
the  Ramapatam  Theological  Seminary,  a  large  part 
of  it  being  given  in  notes,  the  interest  of  which 
was  to  be  paid  year  by  year.  Many  of  these  notes 
have  from  one  cause  and  another  remained  unpaid, 
but  the  income  and  the  amount  of  principal  realized 
has  had  a  profound  influence  on  the  prosperity  of 
the  seminary,  which  at  one  time  stood  first  in  num- 
bers among  the  Baptist  theological  seminaries  in  the 
world.  It  still  retains  a  position  of  prominence, 
although  the  prosperous  years  of  some  of  our 
American  seminaries  have  caused  them  to  surpass  it 
in  later  years.  Scores  of  young  men  and  women 
have  been  sent  forth  from  this  seminarv,  to  whose 


BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN   SOUTHERN    INDIA      147 

labors  the  later  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  Bap- 
tist Telugu  mission  are  in  a  large  measure  due. 

The  impulse  given  to  the  mission  by  the  great  in- 
gathering of  1878  continued  in  the  baptism  of 
thousands  of  converts  year  by  year.  This  large 
increase,  however,  brought  too  great  responsibility 
upon  the  missionaries  stationed  at  the  headquarters 
at  Ougole  and  led  to  the  first  subdivision  of  the  On- 
gole  field  in  1882,  when  four  additional  stations 
were  opened  at  Cumbum,  Vinukonda,  Nursarava- 
petta,  and  Bapatla.  Each  of  these  stations  was  occu- 
pied by  an  American  missionary  family.  This  di- 
vision of  the  work  led  to  a  still  further  increase  in 
the  ingathering  of  converts,  and  on  Sunday,  Dec.  28, 
1 890,  was  seen  a  repetition  of  the  wondrous  spectacle 
at  the  Vilumpilly  f<>rd  of  the  Gundalacuma  River, 
when  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  seventy-one 
converts  were  baptized  in  the  baptistery  of  Doctor 
Ckmgh's  mission  compound  at  Ongole.  The  baptism 
of  this  large  number  was  accomplished  in  all  decency 
and  good  order  in  four  hours  and  twenty-five  minutes, 
emphasizing  the  lesson  of  July  3,  1878,  and  afford- 
ing an  additional  commentary  on  the  baptism  of 
three  thousand  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  at  Jerusa- 
lem. Again  more  than  ten  thousand  persons  were 
baptized  within  five  months.  The  ingathering  also 
continued  in  later  years.  Doctor  dough  on  his 
visit  to  America,  in  1891-92,  raised  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars  for  a  special  reinforcement  for  the 
Telugu  mission,  and  in  1892-93  occurred  the  sec- 


148  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

ond  subdivision  of  the  original  Ongole  field,  when 
in  addition  to  the  five  stations  already  established, 
including  Ongole,  again  four  new  stations  were 
opened,  at  Kanigiri,  Kundakur,  Podili,  and  Sat- 
tanapalli.  The  first  three  of  these  stations  were  in 
parts  of  the  field  where  the  Christian  population 
was  most  dense.  By  this  additional  division  the 
original  Ongole  field  was  divided  into  nine,  and  the 
number  of  church-members  included  in  these  fields 
reached  the  great  total  of  more  than  forty-four 
thousand,  indicating  the  wondrous  growth  accom- 
plished in  this  the  original  field  of  the  Ongole  mis- 
sion. 

Expansion  in  the  Telugu  mission,  however,  was 
not  simply  confined  to  the  Ongole  field,  but  it 
experienced  large  prosperity,  not  only  at  Nellore 
and  other  stations  established  in  the  Presidency  of 
Madras,  but  extended  over  into  the  Deccan,  or  do- 
minions of  the  Nizam  in  Hyderabad,  a  native  ruler, 
whose  authority  is  continued  under  the  supervision  of 
an  English  Resident.  The  first  station  to  be  founded 
in  his  dominions  was  at  Secunderabad,  the  English 
military  cantonment,  a  few  miles  north  of  Hyder- 
abad, the  Nizam's  capital.  This  was  opened  by 
Rev.  W.  W.  Campbell.  The  second  station  to  be 
opened  in  the  Deccan  was  at  Hanamaconda,  eighty- 
six  miles  northeast  of  Secunderabad,  by  Rev.  A. 
Loughridge  ;  and  in  1898  Nalgonda  station  was 
opened,  fifty  miles  to  the  southeast.  This  station  has 
been  marked  by  the  large  assistance  which  it  has  re- 


BAPTIST   MISSIONS   IN    SOUTHERN    INDIA     149 

ceived  from  the  Mennonite  Brethren  of  Russia  and 
the  United  States,  who  are  Baptists  both  in  belief  and 
practice.  The  station  was  founded  by  Rev.  Abram 
Friesen,  a  Baptist  of  Russia,  educated  in  the  Baptist 
theological  seminary  in  Hamburg,  Germany.  He 
was  joined  by  others  appointed  by  the  Missionary 
Union,  but  supported,  as  is  Mr.  Friesen,  by  the 
Mennonite  Brethren,  who  have  also  given  largely 
for  the  building  and  work  of  this  mission.  Both  the 
coast  missions  and  those  in  the  Decean  are  within 
the  limits  of  the  territory  occupied  by  the  Telugu 
people;  but  in  1878  Madras  was  reopened  as  a  mis- 
sion station.  It  is  outside  of  Telugu  territory,  yet 
several  hundred  thousand  of  the  Telugus  have  settled 
in  the  vicinity  of  this  great  city  as  laborers,  and  a 
large  field  for  Telugu  mission  work  is  opened  to  the 
missionaries  residing  at  Madras.  The  only  other 
station  in  South  India  occupied  by  American  Baptist 
missionaries,  outside  of  Telugu  territory,  is  at  Oota- 
camund,  the  sanitarium  on  the  Nilgiri  hills. 

The  success  of  the  evangelistic  methods  used  in  the 
Ongole  Baptist  mission  has  revolutionized  mission- 
ary policy  in  India.  In  the  early  years  of  missions 
in  India  the  influence  of  Doctor  Duff  and  others  led 
to  a  preponderating  development  on  educational 
lines,  which  in  the  earlier  history  of  Indian  missions 
occupied  the  foremost  place.  Their  influence  favored 
formality  and  a  slow  upbuilding  of  Christianity  in 
India.  Doctor  Clough,  and  others  of  the  Baptist 
missions,  swung  the  pendulum  toward  the  evangel- 


150  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

istic  side,  and  at  Ongole  the  masses  flowed  in  tu- 
multuous tides  to  the  gospel  of  Christ.  This  large 
development  of  the  Ongole  Mission  has  led  to  a  re- 
vision of  missionary  policy  in  all  the  other  missions 
in  India,  and  resulted  in  a  large  increase  in  converts 
in  this  first  field  of  Christian  foreign  missions. 

Yet  education  has  been  by  no  means  neglected  in 
the  American  Baptist  Telugu  mission.  In  addition 
to  the  theological  seminary  early  founded  at  Ra- 
mapatam  and  diligently  fostered,  which  has  been  a 
great  means  of  development  to  the  mission,  even 
before  the  great  revival  steps  were  taken  toward 
the  establishment  of  a  Baptist  mission  college.  In 
March,  1874,  a  piece  of  land  was  secured  at  Ongole 
by  Doctor  Clough  for  the  establishment  of  a  college. 
Rev.  A.  Loughridge  was  sent  out  as  the  first  head 
of  the  school,  and  began  the  work  of  building  in 
April,  1876.  The  first  bungalow  was  completed  in 
1877,  in  the  midst  of  the  terrible  scenes  of  the 
famine.  The  school  was  opened,  but  shortly  closed 
again,  and  it  was  not  until  July,  1879,  that  the 
Ongole  High  School,  as  it  was  known  at  that  time, 
was  permanently  reopened.  The  first  head  of  the 
school  was  Rev.  "W.  I.  Price,  who  soon  removed  to 
Burma.  He  was  followed  by  Mr.  Edward  A. 
Kelley,  a  native  of  India,  and  later  by  Rev.  W.  R. 
Manley,  of  America,  and  later  by  Principal  L.  E. 
Martin,  a  son-in-law  of  Doctor  Clough.  The  col- 
legiate department  was  formally  established  in 
August,   1883,   when    the  institution  was  affiliated 


BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    SOUTHERN    INDIA     151 

with  the  University  of  Madras  as  a  second  grade 
college,  with  the  privilege  of  teaching  a  full  First 
Arts  course,  the  examinations  being  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  university,  and  the  graduates  holding 
rank  as  having  received  diplomas  from  the  Madras 
University.  Industrial  and  educational  work  has 
also  received  large  attention  at  Nellore,  the  original 
station  of  the  mission,  under  David  Downie,  D.  d., 
the  successor  of  Lyman  Jewett,  and  an  industrial 
school,  for  which  the  funds  were  largely  raised  in 
1900,  is  projected  at  Ongole.  The  growth  of  the 
Telugu  mission  in  numbers  was  so  rapid  as  to  sur- 
pass the  advance  in  the  substantial  elements  of  Chris- 
tian and  church  life.  Greater  emphasis  is  placed  in 
later  years  on  self-support  and  the  development  of 
liberality  and  self-propagation.  Progress  in  these 
directions  was  greatly  retarded  in  the  famine  of 
1900,  the  most  severe  which  has  affected  India 
within  historical  times,  and  in  which  the  northern 
and  western  portions  of  the  Telugu  field  were  in- 
volved. Surprising  progress  was  made,  however, 
when  the  deep  poverty  of  the  people  is  considered, 
and  the  growth  of  the  mission  in  the  Christian  graces, 
as  in  numbers,  is  remarkable  even  in  the  wonderful 
annals  of  Christian  missions. 


CHAPTER  XV 

BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    SIAM 

THE  intimate  relation  of  Siam  to  the  adjoining 
countries  of  Southeastern  Asia  is  illustrated 
by  the  fact  that  the  Baptist  missions  in  Siam  were 
the  first  outgrowth  of  the  missions  in  Burma  and 
the  foundation  of  the  missions  in  China.  While  yet 
only  three  fields  were  opened  in  Burma  the  Baptist 
missionaries  in  that  country  felt  the  call  to  reach 
out  to  the  needy  countries  about,  and  recommended 
that  Rev.  John  Taylor  Jones,  who  had  arrived  in 
Burma  in  1831,  should  go  to  Siam  for  the  purpose 
of  establishing  a  mission  in  that  country.  This  he 
did,  reaching  Bangkok  March  25,  1833.  The  first 
purpose  of  the  mission  was  to  preach  the  gospel  to 
the  Siamese,  and  Doctor  Jones  proceeded  to  acquire 
the  language,  and  translated  the  New  Testament 
into  Siamese  in  an  elegant  version  which  is  justly 
considered  as  a  classic.  He  also  prepared  a  large 
Christian  literature  in  Siamese,  and  gained  the  con- 
fidence of  the  king,  which  has  always  been  retained 
by  our  missionaries  in  Siam.  In  no  fields  have  our 
Baptist  missions  enjoyed  so  much  favor  from  the 
authorities,  or  received  so  much  encouragement  from 
the  government,  and  it  is  a  peculiar  fact  that  in  no 

152 


BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    SI  AM  153 

field  have  our  missions  experienced  so  little  of  genu- 
ine success. 

Although  the  first  efforts  were  to  preach  the  gospel 
to  the  Siamese,  in  the  providence  of  God  the  first 
converts  in  Siam  were  among  the  Chinese  laborers 
who  had  come  to  Siam  for  purposes  of  employment, 
three  Chinese  being  baptized  December  18,  1833, 
and  while  there  have  been  some  conversions  among 
the  Siamese,  and  a  Baptist  church  formed  of  Siamese 
Christians  is  in  existence  in  Siam,  yet  as  a  matter  of 
fact  by  far  the  larger  proportion  of  converts  in  Siam 
have  been  from  among  the  Chinese.  All  the  early 
missionaries  in  the  Baptist  missions  in  China  served 
their  apprenticeship  in  Siam,  Rev.  William  Dean, 
who  arrived  at  Bangkok,  July  18,  1835,  was  the 
first  Baptist  missionary  to  study  the  Chinese  lan- 
guage, and  he  continued  to  be  the  principal  figure 
in  the  missions  in  Siam  for  many  years.  Rev.  J. 
L.  Sehuck  reached  Bangkok  in  1836,  but  soon  re- 
moved to  China,  first  to  the  Portuguese  colony  in 
Macao  and  later  to  Canton,  where  he  became  the 
founder  of  Southern  Baptist  missions  in  China. 
Rev.  Josiah  Goddard  arrived  at  Bangkok  Decem- 
ber 16,  1840,  and  eight  years  after  removed  to 
Shanghai,  and  then  to  Ningpo,  where  he  established 
the  evangelistic  work  of  the  Eastern  China  Baptist 
mission.  Rev.  William  Ashmore  arrived  in  Bang- 
kok April  14,  1851,  removed  to  Hongkong,  Janu- 
ary 19,  1858,  and  later  to  Swatow,  where  he  has 
continued  to  the   date  of    the  present  writing   to 


154  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

be  the  leader  of  the  Baptist  mission  in  Southern 
China.  Rev.  Sylvester  B.  Partridge  and  Miss 
Adele  M.  Fielde,  both  prominent  in  the  work  of 
the  Southern  China  mission,  began  their  mission 
services  at  Bangkok,  later  removing  to  Swatow. 

In  1851  a  severe  disaster  visited  the  mission  in 
Bangkok,  by  which  all  the  mission  buildings  were 
destroyed  by  fire,  entailing  the  loss  of  fifteen  thou- 
sand dollars,  with  the  destruction  of  the  printing 
press  and  a  large  amount  of  printing  materials,  and 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  second  edition  of  Doctor 
Jones'  Siamese  New  Testament,  which  had  been 
printed  by  Mr.  John  H.  Chandler.  The  buildings 
were  soon  restored,  and  being  situated  in  a  favorable 
part  of  the  city,  later  became  of  great  value.  Mr. 
Chandler  was  succeeded  as  a  missionary  printer  by 
Rev.  S.  J.  Smith,  a  native  of  Siam  who  was  educated 
in  America,  and  who  rendered  a  large  service  to  the 
government  and  the  Siamese  people  by  printing 
Siamese  books.  The  evidence  of  the  favor  of  roy- 
alty toward  the  mission  was  exhibited  by  the  fact 
that  when  the  first  Mrs.  Smith  died  the  king;  sent  a 
State  carriage  to  the  funeral  as  a  mark  of  his  respect. 
It  was  also  in  the  year  1851  that  a  decree  of  tolera- 
tion was  promulgated  on  behalf  of  Christianity  in 
Siam. 

In  1869  the  missionary  work  for  the  Siamese, 
which  had  not  received  great  encouragement,  was 
suspended,  but  a  Baptist  church  of  this  people  has 
continued  in  Bangkok  to  the  present  time.     The 


BAPTIST   MISSIONS    IN   SIAM  155 

mission  to  the  Chinese  was  more  favored,  as  many 
as  five  hundred  members  being  reported  in  the 
Chinese  Baptist  Church  in  Siam  at  onetime;  but 
owing  partly  to  the  floating  character  of  the  Chinese 
population  in  Siam  and  partly  to  the  fact  that  many 
were  drawn  to  a  confession  of  Christianity  by  the 
well-known  favor  of  the  missionaries  with  the  court, 
many  of  those  who  were  received  into  the  church 
proved  not  to  be  steadfast,  and  the  number  of  Chris- 
tians in  the  Chinese  churches  has  in  later  years 
rapidly  declined. 

From  the  earliest  days  of  the  Karen  mission  in 
Burma  it  has  been  known  that  considerable  num- 
bers of  Karens  were  resident  in  Siam,  and  many 
attempts  have  been  made  to  reach  them  with  the 
gospel.  Multitudes  of  Karens  have  been  found  ; 
but  on  account  of  the  scattered  locations  of  the 
Karen  villages  in  Siam,  it  has  been  impossible  to 
estimate  the  exact  number,  and  the  propagation  of 
the  gospel  among  them  has  been  a  matter  of  great 
difficulty.  Rev.  D.  L.  Brayton  and  Rev.  Norman 
Harris  crossed  the  Siamese  boundary  in  about  1850 
in  an  effort  to  reach  the  Siamese  Karens.  In  1872 
Rev.  C.  H.  Carpenter  and  Mrs.  Carpenter,  on  their 
way  to  America,  began  their  journey  by  an  overland 
trip  from  Moulmein  to  Bangkok,  for  the  purpose  of 
visiting  the  Karens  in  Siam.  On  the  formation  of 
the  Foreign  Mission  Board  of  the  maritime  provinces 
of  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick,  the  Baptists 
of   these    provinces,    who    had    hitherto   been    co- 


15b'  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

operating  with  the  American  Baptist  Missionary 
Union,  selected  as  their  first  field  the  Karens  in 
Siam,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Churchill  and  his  wife  spent  a 
year  in  Bangkok  in  efforts  to  reach  this  people. 
Rev.  W.  F.  Armstrong,  Rev.  Mr.  Sanford,  and 
Miss  Norris,  afterward  Mrs.  Armstrong,  also  made 
efforts  to  reach  the  Karens  of  Siam  from  Moulmein 
and  Tavoy  ;  but  the  number  that  they  were  able  to 
find  did  not  encourage  them  in  their  efforts  to  reach 
this  people,  and  the  Canadian  mission  was  finally 
removed  to  the  northern  part  of  the  Telugu  country 
in  India,  and  established  in  territory  adjacent  to  the 
American  Baptist  Telugu  mission.  The  first  con- 
siderable number  of  converts  among  the  Karens  in 
Siam  were  gained  by  Christian  Karens,  teak  lumber 
dealers,  who  visited  the  Lakon  district  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  Chiengmai,  and  on  their  return  interested 
the  Burma  Baptist  Missionary  Convention  in  that 
field.  Native  Karen  preachers  were  sent,  and  the 
field  was  visited  by  Rev.  David  Webster,  of  Moul- 
mein, who  later  resided  a  year  at  Chiengmai,  or,  as 
it  is  known  in  the  Karen  language,  Zimme,  being 
the  only  American  Baptist  missionary  actually  hav- 
ing had  a  residence  among  the  Karens  in  Northern 
Siam.  They  have  been  visited  by  various  mission- 
aries at  different  times — by  Rev.  Walter  Bushell  and 
Rev.  J.  L.  Bulkley,  of  Moulmein  ;  by  Rev.  A.  E. 
Seagrave,  of  Rangoon,  and  Rev.  W.  C.  Calder,  of 
Moulmein  ;  and  later  by  Mr.  Seagrave  again,  ac- 
companied  by  Rev.   E.  N.    Harris,  of  Shwegyin. 


BAPTIST    MISSIONS   IN    SIAM  157 

Three  Baptist  churches  were  formed  in  the  Lakon 
district,  which  have  continued  under  the  care  of  the 
Burma  Baptist  Missionary  Convention. 

In  later  years  considerable  Christian  interest  has 
been  developed  among  the  Mons,  or,  as  they  arc 
known  in  Burma,  Takings.  Dr.  John  T.  Jones 
compiled  a  vocabulary  of  four  thousand  Taking 
words,  and  the  gospel  was  preached  to  many  of  the 
Takings  who  were  found  in  the  country  in  the 
general  vicinity  of  Bangkok.  In  1896  two  Talaing 
missionaries,  a  man  and  his  wife,  were  sent  by  Ed- 
ward O.  Stevens,  D.  d.,  of  Moulmein,  the  wife 
having  been  a  native  of  Burma,  captured  in  youth 
by  robbers  and  carried  to  Siam,  whence  she  finally 
escaped  and  returned  to  Burma.  She  now  went 
back  with  her  husband  to  carry  to  the  people  of 
Siam  the  word  of  life.  In  1897,  Doctor  Stevens 
visited  Bangkok  and  baptized  five  Takings,  also 
the  mother  of  Rev.  Hans  Adamsen,  M.  d.,  a  native 
of  Siam  educated  in  America,  who  was  in  charge  of 
the  mission.  A  church  of  twenty-five  or  thirty 
Takings  was  organized  at  Sampawlerm,  in  the  dis- 
trict of  Ayuthia,  and  the  work  among  the  Mons 
appeared  to  be  the  most  promising  of  any  of  the 
missions  in  Siam. 

On  account  of  the  want  of  success  in  the  work 
among  the  Siamese,  and  the  fleeting  character  of  the 
Chinese  population,  the  abandonment  of  the  Baptist 
mission  in  Siam  has  often  been  considered  ;  but  it  is 
possible  that  the  revived  interest  in  missionary  work 


158  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

among  the  Karens  in  the  north,  and  among  the 
Talaings  in  the  south,  may  give  greater  encourage- 
ment for  a  continuance  of  Baptist  missionary  work 
in  Siam.  The  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union 
still  retains  a  valuable  property  in  Bangkok,  the 
Siamese  Baptist  Church  is  self-supporting,  and  a 
valuable  property,  still  under  the  private  control  of 
Rev.  S.  J.  Smith,  is  yet  in  existence,  ready  to  be 
used  in  the  interest  of  Baptist  missionary  work. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    CHINA 

IN  their  work  for  the  four  hundred  million  popu- 
lation of  the  vast  empire  of  China,  American 
Baptists  occupy  seven  different  fields,  or  locations, 
admirably  selected  with  reference  to  their  strategical 
importance  in  religious  work  and  for  decisive  in- 
fluence upon  the  Chinese  people.  Three  of  these 
fields  are  under  the  care  of  the  Foreign  Mission 
Board  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  and  four 
are  cultivated  by  the  American  Baptist  Missionary 
Union.  The  Southern  Baptist  missions  include 
the  South  China  mission,  with  three  stations,  the 
chief  of  which  is  at  Canton  ;  the  Central  China  mis- 
sion, which  has  four  stations,  the  principal  head- 
quarters being  at  Shanghai ;  and  the  North  China 
mission,  with  three  stations,  with  headquarters  at 
Tengchau,  in  the  Shantung  province.  For  the  work 
of  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union  there  is 
the  Southern  China  mission,  with  five  stations,  of 
which  the  oldest  and  most  important  is  Swatow,  on 
the  coast  north  of  Hongkong  ;  the  Eastern  China 
mission,  also  with  five  stations,  the  principal  one 
being  at  Ningpo  ;  the  Central  China  mission,  at  Han- 
yang, on  the  Yangtze  River,  one  of  the  three  great 
159 


160  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

central  cities  of  China — Hankow,  Han  vans:,  and 
Wuchang;  and  the  Western  China  mission,  with 
three  stations,  the  first  being  at  Suichaufu,  on  the 
Yangtze  River,  and  the  latest  established,  Yaehau, 
in  the  extreme  west  of  Szchuan  province,  not  far 
from  the  borders  of  Tibet.  From  these  widely  ex- 
tended fields  American  Baptists  have  admirable  op- 
portunities for  reaching  and  affecting  the  entire 
population  of  China  proper. 

While  the  first  Baptist  convert  in  China  was  bap- 
tized by  Rev.  J.  L.  Schuck  at  the  Portuguese  colony 
of  Macao,  January  31,  1837,  and  the  first  Baptist 
church  was  formed  there,  the  second  being  formed  in 
Hongkong,  Canton,  the  chief  station  of  the  South 
China  mission  of  the  Southern  Baptists  is  the  oldest 
location  continuously  occupied  by  American  Baptist 
missionaries  in  China,  and  has  always  been  the  cen- 
ter of  aggressive  and  expanding  work.  Still  under 
the  care  of  this  mission  is  the  church  in  Hongkong. 
The  Canton  mission  has  prospered  not  only  in  num- 
bers and  in  increased  influence,  but  in  development 
in  every  line  of  Christian  activity.  Self-support 
has  been  largely  developed  among  the  native  Chris- 
tians, schools  of  all  grades  have  been  established, 
from  Sunday-schools  and  primary  grades  to  an 
academy  and  an  English  school,  the  last  two,  however, 
being  entirely  self-supporting  and  independent  of 
mission  funds.  The  chief  name  connected  with  the 
Canton  mission  is  that  of  Roswell  H.  Graves,  d.  d., 
eminent  for  literary  as  well  as  direct  evangelistic 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    CHINA     161 

work,  he  having  compiled  two  hymn  books  in 
Chinese  and  published  a  book  on  the  "  Parables  of 
our  Lord,"  a  book  of  homiletics,  for  the  training 
class  for  preachers  under  his  care,  a  "  Scriptural 
Geography,"  and  a  "  Life  of  Christ,"  besides  the 
translation  of  several  books  of  the  New  and  Old 
Testaments.  Associated  with  him,  from  time  to  time, 
have  been  men  of  devotion  and  ability,  particularly 
Rev.  E.  Z.  Simmons,  who  has  had  charge  more  par- 
ticularly of  the  evangelistic  work  of  the  outstations. 
In  1885-86  the  Canton  mission  suffered  much 
from  the  hostility  to  foreigners  incident  to  the  war 
with  France.  Its  activities  were  for  a  time  para- 
lyzed, but  it  rapidly  recovered,  and  while  it  has 
suffered  more  than  many  other  mission  fields  from 
the  recent  anti-foreign  feeling  in  China  following 
the  Japanese  war,  the  work  has  been  continued  on 
its  upward  course  with  energy  and  success.  The 
Southern  Baptist  Convention  was  the  first  Protestant 
missionary  Board  to  hold  property  and  gain  a  foot- 
ing in  the  interior  of  China.  In  1898,  on  the  invi- 
tation of  the  Canton  missionaries,  all  Baptist  mis- 
sions in  China  were  invited  to  send  representatives 
to  Canton  to  consider  the  formation  of  a  Chinese 
Baptist  Publication  Society,  which  was  organized  in 
February,  1898,  Doctor  Graves  being  president. 
This  society  is  not  considered  as  peculiarly  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Southern  Baptist  mission,  but  is 
intended  to  facilitate  and  assist  the  work  of  all  Bap- 
tist missions  in  China. 

L 


162  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

The  Central  China,  or  Shanghai  mission,  has 
been  equally  happy  in  its  leading  spirit,  the  station 
having  been  founded  by  Matthew  T.  Yates,  d.  d., 
in  1847,  who  continued  to  be  the  controlling  factor 
until  his  greatly  lamented  death.  Shanghai  being 
the  principal  port  of  the  central  coast  of  China, 
furnishes  to  this  mission  large  opportunities  for 
most  important  influence  upon  the  flowing  tides 
of  Chinese  always  passing  through  the  city.  Its 
influence  is  by  no  means  measured  by  the  records 
of  conversions  or  the  statistics  of  church-member- 
ship. To  the  remotest  ends  of  China  has  gone 
the  word  of  the  truth  as  preached  in  Shanghai. 
Here  also  is  the  gathering  point  of  missionaries 
of  all  denominations,  and  Baptist  missionaries  of 
all  fields  have  here  found  a  hospitable  welcome 
and  God-speed  as  they  went  forth  on  the  way  to 
their  special  stations.  The  Shanghai  Baptist  Church 
is  strong  and  a  leading  feature  in  Baptist  work  in 
China. 

By  a  similar  gracious  providence  the  North 
China  mission  of  the  Southern  Baptists,  with  head- 
quarters at  Tungchau,  has  been  blessed  by  the  labors 
of  T.  P.  Crawford,  d.  d.,  who  established  the  station  in 
1863,  and  continued  to  be  its  guiding  spirit  for  many 
years.  Chefu,  an  important  city  of  this  field,  was 
occupied  by  Rev.  J.  L.  Holmes  and  wife,  but  Mr. 
Holmes  was  murdered  by  the  rebels  a  year  after 
his  settlement,  being  one  of  the  bereavements  in 
which  the  missions  of  the  Southern  Baptists  in  China 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    CHINA     163 

have  had  a  peculiarly  sad  experience.  The  North 
China  Baptist  mission,  in  common  with  other  mis- 
sions in  that  part  of  the  empire,  has  suffered  severely 
from  the  repeated  overflows  of  the  Hoangho  or  Yel- 
low River,  and  especially  by  the  southern  overflow 
of  1898  and  the  consequent  famine,  which  greatly 
affected  the  progress  of  the  missionary  work,  the 
energies  of  the  missionaries  being  largely  devoted 
for  a  time,  as  in  the  various  famines  in  India,  to 
relieving  the  sufferings  of  the  people. 

The  Southern  China  mission  of  the  American 
Baptist  Missionary  Union,  begun  at  Swatow  in  1860 
by  Rev.  J.  "W.  Johnson,  and  reinforced  by  Rev. 
William  Ashmorc  in  1  863,  has  been  generally  re- 
cognized as  one  of  the  best  organized  missions  in 
China — a  reputation  gained  chiefly  by  the  efficient 
leadership  of  Doctor  Ashmore  through  a  long  series 
of  years.  Bible  principles  have  been  constantly  ap- 
plied to  the  conduct  of  the  churches,  every  little 
group  of  believers  being  called  upon  to  appoint 
elders  or  leaders  who  should  be  responsible  for  the 
conduct  of  services  in  the  absence  of  the  missionary 
or  the  native  pastor.  The  churches  have  also  been 
trained  in  self-reliance  and  in  self-help,  and  in  a 
desire  to  achieve  complete  self-support  as  soon  as 
the  number  of  members  and  their  financial  condition 
would  permit.  In  1864,  the  city  of  Swatow  itself 
being  unhealthful,  Mr.  Ashmore  bought  property  at 
Kak  Chieh,  across  the  bay  one  mile  to  the  south, 
for  eight  hundred  dollars.     This  barren  and  rocky 


164  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

tract  of  land  was  developed  with  taste  and  care 
and  industry,  until  it  forms  probably  the  most  beau- 
tiful, convenient,  healthful,  and  attractive  head- 
quarters possessed  by  any  of  our  Baptist  missions. 
In  1900  the  land,  aside  from  all  the  buildings  which 
have  been  erected,  was  valued  at  twenty-five  hun- 
dred dollars,  gold.  For  many  years  but  one  central 
church  was  recognized,  with  headquarters  at  Swatow, 
to  which  all  the  Christians  came  as  far  as  possible 
for  quarterly  meetings  and  communion ;  but  with 
the  growth  of  the  mission  and  the  demands  of  the 
outer  fields  enlargement  became  necessary,  and  in 
1890  work  was  begun  by  Rev.  George  Campbell  in 
the  city  of  Kayin  among  the  Hakka  people.  The 
Chinese  about  Swatow  are  known  as  Tie  Chiu,  or 
lowland  people,  while  the  Hakkas,  or  highland  peo- 
ple, live  in  the  interior,  the  latter  being  the  most 
literary  and  intelligent  among  the  people  of  China. 
As  is  usual  in  religious  work,  these  literary  people 
have  been  among  the  most  difficult  to  reach  with 
the  gospel,  but  there  is  encouragement  that  when 
once  they  receive  the  gospel  they  will  become  a 
striking  and  efficient  means  of  spreading  the  truth 
among  their  countrymen.  A  special  feature  of  the 
Swatow  mission  has  also  been  the  work  of  Bible 
women  as  developed  under  the  efficient  leadership 
of  Miss  Adele  M.  Fielde.  It  was  Miss  Fielde's 
practice  to  gather  the  Christian  women  for  instruc- 
tion and  to  teach  them  thoroughly  one  lesson  from 
the  Gospels,  and  when  they  had  learned  it  to  send 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    CHINA     165 

them  out,  two  by  two,  into  the  country  about  to  tell 
the  lesson  to  their  Chinese  sisters  in  their  villages. 
After  a  time,  again  they  were  gathered  at  Swatow 
and  received  another  portion  of  the  truth,  and 
having  obtained  a  thorough  grasp  of  it  went  forth 
to  carry  the  good  news  of  salvation.  By  these 
methods  Miss  Fielde  built  up  an  organized  corps  of 
Bible  women,  whose  work  under  her  direction  has 
been  a  model  for  the  work  of  Bible  women  through- 
out China.  In  the  later  years,  the  little  country 
churches,  which  were  first  eonsidered  as  branches  of 
the  Swatow  Church,  have  been  organized  into  in- 
dependent churches.  Several  new  stations  have 
been  established,  and  as  supplementary  to  the  or- 
ganization of  the  churches  and  the  excellent  work 
of  the  Bible  women,  a  system  of  Bible  study  at 
central  points  in  the  country  districts  has  been  in- 
augurated by  the  Rev.  John  M.  Foster  in  order  to 
reach  and  touch  the  members  of  the  churches  who 
are  not  able  to  visit  Swatow.  These  Bible  classes 
are  maintained  for  a  period  of  a  month  or  more, 
the  most  intelligent  of  the  church-members  being 
gathered  for  the  purpose.  By  these  admirable  and 
efficient  methods  of  organization,  with  elders  in 
every  little  church,  with  the  leading  members  trained 
in  Bible  study,  and  Christian  women  taught  in  the 
word,  the  Southern  China  mission  has  been  welded 
into  an  effective  force  for  carrying  on  the  work  of 
the  gospel  among  the  people  in  these  neighbor- 
hoods, and  for  reaching  out  into  the  region  beyond. 


166  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

Medical  missionary  work  was  the  means  of  open- 
ing Ningpo  to  the  gospel.  A  hospital  was  opened 
by  D.  J.  MacGowan,  m.  d.,  in  1843,  but  was  closed 
for  a  time,  and  re-opened  in  April,  1845.  Some 
gospel  services  were  also  held,  and  in  the  first  year 
Doctor  MacGowan  prescribed  for  more  than  two 
thousand  patients.  The  real  inauguration  of  evan- 
gelistic work  in  the  Ningpo,  or  Eastern  China  mis- 
sion, was  due  to  the  coming  of  Rev.  Josiah  God- 
dard,  who  arrived  in  Ningpo  in  March,  1848.  He 
was  soon  reinforced  by  Rev.  E.  C.  Lord,  who  sailed 
from  America  in  1847.  In  addition  to  his  evan- 
gelistic and  distinctively  missionary  work,  Mr.  God- 
dard  completed,  in  1853,  a  translation  of  the  New 
Testament  into  Chinese,  which  has  enjoyed  a  high 
reputation  for  accuracy  and  idiomatic  force,  and  is 
still  in  use.  A  class  for  the  training  of  native 
preachers  was  established  and  conducted  for  several 
years  at  Ningpo  by  Doctor  Lord,  which  later  was 
removed  to  Shaohing,  and  continued  under  the  care 
of  Horace  Jenkins,  d.  d.,  who  joined  the  mission 
in  March,  1859.  Another  strong  leader  in  the 
Eastern  China  mission  was  M.  J.  Knowlton,  d.  d., 
who  reached  Ningpo  in  June,  1854.  On  account  of 
an  unusual  combination  of  earnestness,  sincerity, 
humility,  and  scholarly  abilities  in  Doctor  Knowl- 
ton, he  was  known  as  the  "  Western  Confucius," 
perhaps  the  highest  compliment  which  the  Chinese 
could  pay  to  any  foreigner.  Rev.  J.  R.  Goddard, 
the    son    of  the    founder  of  evangelistic  work    in 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    CHINA     167 

Ningpo,  reached  the  field  in  1868,  and  continued 
for  many  years  to  be  the  leader  and  strength  of  the 
mission,  which  at  many  times  was  left  wholly  to  his 
sole  care.  In  181)9,  he  completed  the  translation  of 
the  Old  Testament  into  the  Ningpo  colloquial.  Med- 
ical work  having:  been  the  earliest  feature  of  the  mis- 
sion,  has  been  continued  without  interruption,  and 
forms  a  strong  element  in  the  progress  of  the  work. 
Doctor  MacGowan  was  succeeded  by  S.  P.  Barchet, 
M.  D.,  who  was  followed  by  Dr.  J.  S.  Grant  in 
1889.  The  Eastern  China  mission  is  now  estab- 
lished in  four  of  the  largest  and  most  influential 
cities  in  the  Chekiang  Province,  which  form  centers 
of  influence  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel  into  all 
that  portion  of  China.  In  December,  1872,  the  Che- 
kiang Baptist  Association  was  formed,  including  the 
churches  of  the  Eastern  China  mission  of  the  Amer- 
ican Baptist  Missionary  Union,  and  of  the  Shanghai, 
or  Central  China  mission  of  the  Southern  Baptist 
Convention.  This  union  continued  with  most  happy 
results  until  the  spread  of  the  missions  and  the 
growth  of  the  churches  and  the  difficulty  of  reaching 
the  more  distant  points  at  which  the  Association 
was  held,  led  to  the  formation  of  two  Associations 
by  the  churches  of  the  Southern  and  Northern  Bap- 
tist missions  respectively.  The  intimate  relation 
of  these  two  missions  was  illustrated  by  the  fact 
that  Suchau,  first  opened  as  a  station  by  Doctor 
MacGowan,  of  the  Eastern  China  mission,  later 
formed  a  station  of  the  Southern  Board. 


168  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

In  1889  the  West  China  mission  in  Szchuan 
Province  was  opened  at  Suichaufu,  under  the  Amer- 
ican Baptist  Missionary  Union,  by  Rev.  "William 
Upcraft  and  Mr.  George  Warner.  Mr.  Upcraft  had 
before  been  a  representative  of  the  British  and  For- 
eign Bible  Society  in  China.  He  had  traveled  ex- 
tensively in  the  interior,  and  became  acquainted 
with  the  language  and  customs  of  the  people.  He 
had  also  endured  great  persecution,  at  one  time 
having  been  stoned  and,  like  Paul,  left  without  the 
city  for  dead.  He  rose  up  and  returned  to  the 
West,  came  to  America,  where  he  visited  friends, 
especially  in  the  State  of  Minnesota.  The  forma- 
tion of  the  West  China  mission  was  due  to  his 
proposition,  and  on  going  out  under  the  Missionary 
Union,  the  support  of  Mr.  Upcraft  and  his  compan- 
ion, Mr.  George  Warner,  was  pledged  by  the  Bap- 
tist young  people  of  Minnesota.  They  established 
themselves  first  at  Suichaufu,  on  the  Yangtze  River, 
one  thousand  five  hundred  miles  from  the  sea.  As 
soon  as  reinforced,  Mr.  Upcraft  moved  on  and 
opened  another  station  at  Kiating,  to  the  north,  and 
soon  still  another  station  at  Yachau,  northwest  of 
Kiating,  and  well  on  toward  the  border  of  Tibet. 
Mr.  Upcraft  has  made  several  journeys  over  the 
border  into  Tibet,  and  this  outpost  of  the  West 
China  mission  furnishes  the  nearest  approach  of 
Baptist  missions  to  that  isolated  country. 

In  the  conduct  of  the  Western  China  mission,  on 
account  of  its  great  distance  from  the  coast,  an  in- 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    CHINA     169 

termed iute  post  for  the  entertainment  of  missionaries 
on  the  way,  and  for  the  supply  of  financial  and  pos- 
tal facilities  became  necessary,  which  led  to  a  station 
being  opened  at  Hanyang,  which,  in  connection  with 
the  neighboring  cities  of  Hankow  and  Wuchang, 
forms  the  largest  center  of  population  in  China,  and 
constitutes  the  great  receiving  and  distributing 
center  for  the  products  and  imports  of  Central 
China.  The  three  cities  have,  according  to  the 
national  preferences  of  the  speakers,  been  called  the 
"  Liverpool  "  and  the  "  Chicago  "  of  China.  The 
station  was  opened  by  Rev.  Joseph  Adams,  of  the 
American  Baptist  Missionary  Union,  who  was  later 
joined  by  Rev.  G.  A.  Huntley,  M.  D.,  for  the  con-' 
duct  of  medical  work.  Great  tides  of  population 
are  surging  to  and  fro  in  this  immense  center,  and 
offer  the  largest  opportunities  for  casting  on  the 
waters  the  bread  of  life.  A  small  church  has  been 
gathered,  and  while  the  visible  results  of  labor  have 
not  been  large,  yet  the  immense  opportunities  stimu- 
late the  zeal  of  the  servants  of  Christ,  and  encour- 
age the  belief  that  the  scattering  of  the  seed,  as 
promised  by  the  divine  Master,  shall  not  be  in 
vain,  but  that  the  harvest  shall  be  gathered  in  the 
Lord's  own  time. 

In  the  extensive  uprising  against  foreigners,  which 
occurred  in  1895,  the  Baptist  missionaries  in  West- 
ern China,  in  common  with  those  of  all  other  mis- 
sions to  the  number  of  nearly  two  hundred,  were 
compelled  to  flee  for  their  lives,  and  their  work  was 


170  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

suspended  for  nearly  a  year.  Their  experience  is  a 
story  of  hairbreadth  escapes  and  great  perils  hero- 
ically endured ;  but,  by  the  care  of  the  Lord,  no 
missionary  life  was  lost,  although  a  large  amount 
of  missionary  property  was  sacrificed.  Prompt 
measures  were  taken  by  the  Chinese  government, 
under  foreign  pressure,  for  the  suppression  of  the 
anti-foreign  riots,  the  United  States  government 
taking  the  most  effective  measure,  by  sending  an 
embassy  to  Szchuan  Province,  which,  in  order  to 
produce  a  wider  impression  on  the  Chinese,  made 
the  entire  journey  by  land.  The  sight  of  this  peace- 
ful official  deputation  marching  in  state  across  their 
territory  with  the  approval  of  the  Peking  govern- 
ment, exerted  an  influence  on  the  Chinese  people  of 
the  interior  almost  equal  to  that  which  would  have 
been  effected  by  an  invading  army.  Inconsequence 
of  this,  and  measures  adopted  by  other  governments, 
the  officials  of  Western  China  experienced  a  change 
of  mind,  if  not  of  heart,  the  missionaries  were  re- 
ceived back  with  distinguished  consideration,  and 
were  aided  officially  in  re-establishing  their  work 
and  restoring  their  mission  premises,  for  the  loss  of 
which  full  indemnities  were  paid  by  the  Chinese 
imperial  government.  Again  in  1899,  the  security 
of  the  missionaries  in  Western  China  Avas  threatened 
by  another  anti-foreign  rebellion,  raised  by  a  leader 
known  as  Yumantse.  But  this  was  also  against  the 
imperial  power,  and  while  several  missions  were 
wrecked,  and  for  a  time  missionary  work  was  greatly 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    CHINA     171 

hindered,  the  rebels  were  at  last  overcome  by  the 
government  forces  and  a  measure  of  peace  and  se- 
curity restored  to  Western  China.  In  this  excite- 
ment the  Baptist  missions  escaped  all  actual  injury 
except  the  inevitable  loss  of  effectiveness  in  their 
work.  High  hopes  were  aroused  by  the  advanced 
reforms  ordered  in  the  edict  of  the  emperor, 
Kwangsu,  in  1899,  which  contemplated  the  over- 
turn of  the  ancient  methods  in  Chinese  literary  ex- 
aminations, the  founding  of  a  system  of  public  edu- 
cation, and  the  placing  of  official  administration  on 
a  basis  of  strict  accountability  and  responsibility. 
These  expectations  were  put  in  suspense  by  the  ar- 
bitrary action  of  the  empress  dowager,  Tsichi,  who 
placed  the  young  emperor  under  arrest,  executed  all 
of  his  chief  counsellors  who  could  be  caught,  re- 
sumed her  former  place  at  the  head  of  government, 
revoked  the  reformatory  edict,  and  with  the  support 
of  the  conservative  Tsung  li  Yamen,  placed  the 
affairs  of  China  back  in  their  old  ruts,  as  far  as  her 
efforts  and  influence  could  effect.  For  a  short  time 
the  progressive  party  in  China  was  paralyzed  by  the 
action  of  the  empress  dowager,  but  soon  showed 
signs  of  renewed  life.  Both  within  and  without  the 
limits  of  the  Chinese  Empire  indications  rapidly  ap- 
peared that  the  attitude  of  the  Chinese  government 
under  the  control  of  the  Conservatives  would  not  be 
accepted,  and  the  overthrow'  of  the  Manchu  dynasty, 
which  has  long  been  distasteful  to  the  Chinese  people 
in  the  great  Yangtse  Valley,  was  freely  predicted 


172  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

as  a  result  of  this  reactionary  movement  of  its  most 
powerful  representative. 

The  terrible  outbreak  of  hostility  against  foreign- 
ers and  native  Christians  in  the  summer  of  1900, 
was  started  by  a  secret  society  popularly  known  as 
"  The  Boxers/'  but  they  were  soon  joined  by  the 
Peking  government.  The  clash  of  arms  at  Tien- 
tsin between  the  Allies  and  the  Chinese,  resulting  in 
the  defeat  of  the  latter,  followed  by  the  rescue  of 
the  imperiled  legations  at  Peking,  intensified  the 
anti-foreign  feeling.  The  minds  of  all  the  Chinese 
were  more  or  less  aroused,  and  these  events  seriously 
embarrassed  all  Christian  missionary  work  in  China 
during  the  closing  months  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury. The  missions  everywhere  were  more  or  less 
imperiled,  and  the  lives  of  many  missionaries  were 
lost.  Indeed,  missionary  operations  almost  wholly 
ceased,  and  the  missionaries,  with  few  exceptions, 
were  withdrawn.  At  this  writing,  what  God  has  in 
store  for  missions  in  China  does  not  appear. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

BAPTIST   MISSIONS    IN     JAPAN,  THE   LIU   CHIU,  AND 
THE    PHILIPPINE    ISLANDS. 

THE  remarkable  progress  of  Japan,  from  one  of 
the  most  exclusive  to  the  foremost  nation  of 
Asia,  and  its  unique  position  as  the  only  country  com- 
monly known  as  pagan  which  has  proved  its  right  to 
a  position  among  the  most  influential  nations  of  the 
world,  has  attracted  universal  attention  to  that 
country  and  greatly  emphasized  the  importance  of 
Christian  missionary  work  in  Japan.  The  history 
of  Christian  missions  for  the  Japanese  exhibits  every 
phase  of  experience  known  in  missionary  life.  Begun 
amid  the  greatest  difficulties  and  under  severest 
prohibitions,  they  have  been  carried  on  sometimes 
amid  persecutions,  and  again  with  almost  universal 
favor.  Slow  and  difficult  progress  has  blossomed 
suddenly  into  an  ease  of  winning  converts  almost 
unknown  in  any  other  missionary  land,  and  again 
brightening  hopes  have  suffered  opposition  and 
blight  from  the  anti-foreign  prejudices  of  the  people. 
No  element  of  romance  and  interest  in  missionary 
work  is  wanting  to  the  history  of  Christian  missions 
in  Japan.  This  work  is  also  distinguished  from 
missionary  work  in  other  countries  by  the  fact  that, 

173 


174  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

whereas,  almost  universally,  as  in  India  and  in 
China,  Christian  missions  have  obtained  their  first 
and  greatest  progress  among  the  lower  classes  of 
the  people,  owing  to  the  peculiar  political  condition 
of  Japan  upon  being  opened  to  the  entrance  of 
foreigners,  the  class  to  view  foreigners  and  their  re- 
ligion with  the  most  favor  was  the  great  Samurai 
or  middle  class.  There  is  found,  therefore,  a  wide 
extension  of  Christianity  among  the  middle  classes 
of  Japan,  whereas  the  coolie  or  laboring  class  has 
hardly  been  touched  and  the  upper  classes  but 
slightly  affected.  It  has  been  said  that  Christianity 
rises  from  the  bottom.  This  has  been  found  to  be 
true  from  the  early  history  of  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  its  small  beginnings  in  Galilee  and  Judea, 
to  the  missions  of  the  present  time ;  and  even  in 
Japan  the  same  tendency  is  exhibited,  since  the 
spread  of  Christianity  among  the  Samurai  has  had 
far  more  influence  upon  the  aristocratic  or  noble 
class  than  upon  the  farmers  and  laborers.  How  this 
latter  class  will  be  reached  is  one  of  the  problems 
which  Christian  missions  have  to  solve  in  Japan. 

The  first  Baptist  missionary  to  Japan  was  a  sea- 
man in  Commodore  Perry's  expedition  in  1854. 
Returning  to  this  country,  Jonathan  Goble  told  of 
his  experiences  and  interest  in  Japan,  and  was  sent 
out  by  the  American  Baptist  Free  Mission  Society 
in  1860,  as  the  first  Baptist  missionary  to  Japan. 
He  translated  portions  of  the  New  Testament  and 
did  much  work  in  extending:  the  circulation  of  such 


BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    JAPAN  175 

Christian  literature  as  was  obtainable,  as  well  as  in 
preaching  the  gospel.  When  the  Free  Mission 
Society  turned  over  its  work,  in  1872,  to  the  Ameri- 
can Baptist  Missionary  Union,  that  society  accepted 
Mr.  Goble  as  its  missionary  and  appointed  Nathan 
Brown,  D.  d.,  then  Secretary  of  the  Free  Mission 
Society,  to  be  associated  with  him  in  Japan.  Doctor 
Brown  translated  the  whole  New  Testament  into 
Japanese,  having  before  translated  the  same  for  the 
Assamese,  and  thus  enjoyed  the  high  distinction  of 
giving  to  two  entirely  distinct  peoples — the  As- 
samese and  Japanese — the  New  Testament  in  their 
own  tongues,  both  versions  being  so  nearly  perfect 
that  little  revision  has  been  needed.  In  1873  the 
edict  for  the  exclusion  of  Christianity  from  Japan 
was  abrogated,  the  calendar  of  the  country  was 
changed  to  modern  style,  old  holidays  were  abolished 
and  Sunday  was  made  a  legal  holiday.  The  same 
year  the  first  Baptist  church  in  Japan  was  formed 
at  Yokohama,  with  eight  members,  three  of  whom 
were  Japanese.  The  mission  was  reinforced  by  the 
addition  of  Rev.  J.  H.  Arthur  and  of  Henry  H. 
Rhees,  D.  D.,  who  built  the  first  Baptist  mission 
house  in  Tokyo,  and  afterward  removed  to  Kobe, 
where  he  completed  his  life-work.  In  1879  Rev. 
Thomas  P.  Poate,  a  teacher  in  the  Imperial  Uni- 
versity of  Japan,  joined  the  Baptist  mission,  and 
also  Rev.  Albert  A.  Bennett  and  wife  from  America. 
A  training  class  for  biblical  students  was  soon 
opened  by  Mr.  Bennett  at  Yokohama,  which  grew 


176  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

in  importance,  and  about  1895  was  reorganized  with 
John  L.  Dearing,  D.  D.,  as  president  and  A.  A.  Ben- 
nett, d.  d.,  Rev.  C.  K.  Harrington,  and  Rev.  W. 
B.  Parshley,  as  professors.  The  recognition  of  the 
fact  that  leaders  must  be  furnished  for  the  intelli- 
gent and  enterprising  people  of  Japan  led  to  the 
establishment  of  Tokyo  Baptist  Academy,  which  in 
its  early  stages  was  nurtured  by  Samuel  W.  Duncan, 
D.  c,  Foreign  Secretary  of  the  Missionary  Union, 
and  after  his  sudden  and  lamented  death  his  name 
was  given  to  the  academy.  The  funds  for  the 
erection  of  the  first  dormitory  and  for  placing  the 
school  upon  a  substantial  basis  were  furnished  by 
Mr.  Duncan's  sister,  Mrs.  Robert  Harris,  and  it 
therefore  forms  a  worthy  memorial  of  the  family. 
The  work  in  Mito,  to  the  north  of  Tokyo,  was  in- 
augurated by  Rev.  C.  H.  D.  Fisher,  who  while  re- 
siding in  Tokyo  made  evangelistic  journeys  to  the 
north.  Impressed  with  the  importance  and  needs  of 
this  large  city  he  took  a  contract  for  teaching  in  the 
government  school  there  before  residence  for  mis- 
sionary work  was  lawful,  with  the  agreement  that  his 
spare  time  should  be  devoted  to  preaching  the  gos- 
pel and  that  he  would  secure  a  man  from  America 
for  the  position  as  soon  as  possible.  In  accordance 
with  this  arrangement,  Professor  E.  W.  Clement, 
later  the  principal  of  Duncan  Academy,  Tokyo,  went 
out  to  Mito  from  America.  After  Mr.  Clement's 
return  to  America,  Rev.  J.  L.  Dearing,  of  Yoko- 
hama, conducted  evangelistic  work  in  the  city  and 


BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    JAPAN  177 

vicinity,  and  in  1898  Rev.  J.  C.  Brand  and  wife 
were  specially  authorized  to  undertake  Mito  and 
the  surrounding  country  as  their  fields.  Sendai, 
still  farther  to  the  north,  was  occupied  as  a  Baptist 
mission  station  by  Rev.  T.  P.  Poate,  in  1882,  and 
Shimonoseki  and  Osaka,  to  the  southwest,  in  1886 
and  1892. 

Rev.  Chapin  H.  Carpenter  and  Mrs.  Carpenter, 
whose  names  became  eminent  in  missionary  history 
by  their  notable  work  in  charge  of  the  vigorous 
Bassein  Sgaw-Karen  mission  in  Burma,  later  turned 
their  attention  to  Japan,  after  it  was  discovered  that 
Mr.  Carpenter's  health  would  not  allow  further 
residence  in  Burma.  It  was  thought  that  in  the 
cooler  climate  of  Japan,  and  especially  in  the  northern 
portion,  he  might  continue  in  the  missionary  work 
to  which  he  had  consecrated  his  life.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Carpenter  opened  work  in  the  year  1886  in  Nemuro 
on  the  island  of  Yezo,  as  formerly  known,  but  now 
called  Hokkaido,  but  Mr.  Carpenter's  health  proved 
to  be  undermined  by  his  long  residence  in  Burma, 
and  he  passed  from  his  active  duties  on  earth  to  his 
heavenly  home,  February  2,  1887.  The  work  at 
Nemuro,  however,  has  been  continued  by  Mrs.  Car- 
penter, supported  at  her  own  expense,  as  was  the 
mission  from  the  beginning  by  herself  and  her  hus- 
band. Although  the  entire  cost  of  the  work  is  paid 
by  Mrs.  Carpenter,  she  and  her  co-laborers  in  the 
work  are  enrolled  on  the  lists  of  the  American  Bap- 
tist Missionary  Union  as  a  self-supporting  mission. 

M 


178  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

In  1889  the  Foreign  Mission  Board  of  the  South- 
ern Baptist  Convention  began  work  in  Japan.  This 
had  been  contemplated  much  earlier,  but  after  the 
loss  of  Rev.  J.  Q.  A.  Rorer  and  his  wife,  in  the 
"  Edwin  Forrest/'  as  previously  mentioned,  no  fur- 
ther attempt  was  made  until  this  latter  date.  Their 
missionaries  have  established  themselves  in  the 
inland  of  Kiushiu,  the  most  southwestern  of  the 
larger  islands  of  Japan,  with  stations  at  Fukuoka, 
Nagasaki,  and  Kokura.  Much  encouragement  has 
been  met  with,  and  the  same  obstacles  have  been 
encountered,  as  in  the  missions  of  the  Northern  Bap- 
tists and  other  Christian  missions  in  Japan,  owing 
to  the  political  and  uncertain  attitude  of  the  people 
and  the  political  authorities  of  Japan  toward  foreign- 
ers and  Christian  missions.  The  Southern  Baptist 
missionaries  unite  with  the  Northern  Baptists  in 
missionary  conferences,  and  share  the  privileges  of 
the  theological  seminary  at  Yokohama  and  all  other 
movements  which  relate  to  the  general  progress  of 
Baptist  mission  work  in  Japan. 

In  1892,  Mrs.  Allan,  of  Scotland,  visited  Japan, 
— one  among  the  multitude  of  those  who  have  had 
the  curiosity  to  visit  this  extremely  interesting  and 
even  fascinating  people  and  country.  In  Kobe, 
Mrs.  Allan  became  interested  in  the  missionary 
work  of  Rev.  R.  A.  Thomson  and  his  wife.  Mr. 
Thomson  mentioned  to  her  the  Liu  Chiu  Islands  as 
a  needy  field  for  Christian  missions.  On  her  return 
to  Scotland  a  definite  offer  was  made  by  Mrs.  Allan 


BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    LIU    CHIU  ISLANDS    17(J 

to  Mr.  Thomson,  as  a  representative  of  the  American 
Baptist  Missionary  Union,  of  a  sum  of  money  suffi- 
cient to  open  missionary  work  in  the  Liu  Chiu  Is- 
lands and  carry  it  on  for  a  number  of  years,  with 
the  understanding  that  the  work,  if  successful, 
should  be  continued  by  the  society.  The  oiFer  was 
accepted  and  the  Liu  Chiu  Island  mission  was  es- 
tablished, and  it  has  been  conducted  by  Japanese 
missionaries  under  the  general  direction  of  Mr. 
Thomson,  who  visits  the  islands  every  year.  A 
church  has  been  formed  at  Naha,  the  capital. 

On  the  first  visit  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomson  in 
January,  1892,  the  most  interesting  and  even  ex- 
citing experiences  were  encountered.  No  foreign 
lady  had  been  seen  in  the  Liu  Chiu  Islands  for  many 
years,  and  the  appearance  of  Mrs.  Thomson  was  a 
signal  for  a  general  suspension  of  business.  The 
market  places  and  shops  were  deserted  when  it  was 
known  that  Mrs.  Thomson  was  taking  a  walk 
through  the  street.  The  city  was  so  upset  by  this 
strange  and  interesting  visitor  that  the  authorities 
were  compelled  to  request  Mrs.  Thomson  to  remain 
indoors  during  the  day,  in  order  that  the  business 
of  the  city  might  be  resumed.  She,  therefore,  con- 
fined her  outings  to  the  night  and  to  going  out  in  a 
covered  jinrikisha  in  the  daytime.  Considerable 
response  to  the  gospel  has  been  found  among  the 
people  in  the  Liu  Chiu  Islands,  and  several  have 
been  baptized  at  every  annual  visit  by  Mr.  Thomson 
or  other  missionaries  from  Japan. 


180  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

The  acquisition  of  the  Philippine  Islands  by  the 
United  States  naturally  directed  the  attention  of 
Protestant  Christians  in  America  to  them  as  a  field 
for  missionary  effort.  Upon  agreement  with  the 
Home  Mission  Society  the  Philippines  were  taken 
by  the  Missionary  Union  as  a  part  of  the  foreign 
mission  field,  and  the  missionary  work  in  Japan  and 
in  the  Liu  Chiu  Islands,  six  hundred  miles  to  the 
north,  furnished  a  natural  line  of  approach  to  the 
Philippines.  In  the  providence  of  God,  a  native 
of  the  Visayan  group  of  the  Philippines  who  visited 
Spain,  was  converted  in  the  Baptist  mission  in  Bar- 
celona, under  Rev.  Eric  Lund.  Mr.  Lund  feeling 
at  once  the  importance  of  the  new  convert,  with  his 
assistance  began  the  translation  of  the  Gospels  and 
other  books  of  the  New  Testament,  as  well  as  sev- 
eral Christian  tracts,  into  the  Yisayan  tongue.  An 
appropriation  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  by 
the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union  for  print- 
ing these  translations  was  the  first  American  Baptist 
money  appropriated  to  missionary  work  in  the  Philip- 
pine Islands.  On  account  of  the  continuance  of  the 
war  in  Luzon,  the  northern  island  of  the  Philip- 
pines, the  authorities  of  the  Union  had  already 
looked  toward  the  Visayan  group  as  a  more  fav- 
orable field  for  beginning  missionary  operations. 
The  providential  coming  of  this  convert  to  the  mis- 
sion in  Spain  confirmed  this  opinion,  and  arrange- 
ments were  at  once  made  for  the  establishment  of 
Baptist  missionary  work  in  the  Visayan  group  of 


BAPTIST  MISSIONS  IN   PHILIPPINE  ISLANDS    181 

the  islands.  It  was  considered  highly  important 
that  the  first  missionary  to  be  entrusted  with  the 
establishment  of  this  work  should  be  some  one 
thoroughly  known  to  the  authorities  of  the  Union 
as  a  missionary  of  experience  and  discretion,  and 
although  Mr.  Lund's  services  in  Spain  were  of 
great  importance,  the  more  commanding  require- 
ments of  the  opening  of  the  Philippine  mission  led 
the  executive  committee  to  request  Mr.  Lund  to 
proceed  to  the  Philippines  to  establish  the  work, 
looking  toward  the  island  of  Negros  as  an  espe- 
cially promising  field — an  opinion  which  was  con- 
firmed in  an  interview  with  President  J.  G.  Schur- 
man,  of  Cornell  University,  who  had  been  chair- 
man of  the  first  United  States  Commission  to  the 
Philippine  Islands.  Early  in  1900  Mr.  Lund  ac- 
cordingly proceeded  to  the  Philippines,  accompanied 
by  Mr.  Braulio  Manikan,  the  converted  Filipino 
in  the  mission  in  Spain.  By  the  establishment  of 
this  mission  American  Baptist  work  covers  a  line  of 
outlying  stations  off  the  eastern  coast  of  Asia,  more 
than  two  thousand  miles  long,  from  Nemuro,  on 
Hokkaido,  the  northern  island  of  Japan,  to  the 
Visayan  group  of  the  Philippine  Islands. 


CHAPTER    XVIII 

AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN   AFRICA 

THE  history  of  the  adoption  of  the  Congo  mis- 
sion by  American  Baptists  is  one  which  clearly 
illustrates  that  providential  leading  of  the  Lord 
which  has  characterized  in  a  marked  degree  all 
their  mission  work.  Baptists  in  America  have 
always  felt  a  deep  interest  in  missions  in  Africa, 
the  mission  in  Liberia  having  been  one  of  the  earli- 
est established  by  the  General  Convention.  In 
1820  two  colored  brethren,  Avho  had  gone  out  from 
Richmond,  Va.,  were  recognized  as  missionaries 
in  Liberia,  and  the  work  in  that  country  was  car- 
ried on  without  interruption  until  1856.  At  that 
time,  on  account  of  various  complications,  especially 
because  of  the  difficulty  in  making  satisfactory 
business  arrangements  in  regard  to  the  mission,  it 
was  suspended,  and  comparatively  little  mission 
work  in  Liberia  has  been  done  by  American  Bap- 
tists since  that  time.  Small  appropriations  have 
been  made  to  various  persons,  but  within  recent 
years  they  have  been  wholly  discontinued.  Yet 
there  was  continually  manifest  an  earnest  de- 
sire on  the  part  of  many  to  resume  Baptist  mis- 
sion work  in  Africa.  An  examination  of  the  records 
182 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    US    AFRICA     183 

of  the  annual  meetings  of  the  American  Baptist 
Missionary  Union  shows  that  almost  every  year 
resolutions  were  introduced,  instructing  the  Board 
of  Managers  to  reopen  mission  work  in  Africa  at 
the  first  favorable  opportunity.  These  repeated  at- 
tempts are  a  proof  of  the  warm  interest  of  many  of 
our  people  in  African  missions. 

Only  a  few  months  after  Henry  M.  Stanley  had 
completed  his  journey  through  the  Dark  Continent 
(August  7, 1877),  and  opened  to  the  world  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  real  extent  of  the  Congo,  a  few  friends 
in  England  sent  missionaries  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Congo  to  open  a  mission.  This  was  called  the 
Livingstone  Inland  Mission,  the  name  being  taken, 
not  from  the  missionary,  but  from  the  name  "  Living- 
stone," which  Mr.  Stanley  gave  to  the  Congo  River. 
The  old  name  of  the  river  has,  however,  been  re- 
tained by  the  judgment  of  the  world.  This  mission 
was  carried  on  by  the  friends  in  England  from  1878, 
increasing  year  by  year,  and  the  chief  burden  of 
management  and  support  finally  came  upon  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  H.  Grattan  Guinness,  of  London.  After 
coming  to  the  missionary  rooms,  in  1880,  the  writer, 
having  noticed  the  persistent  determination  of  many 
to  reopen  missions  in  Africa,  made  a  complete  study 
of  the  entire  coast  line  of  Africa  with  reference  to 
the  opening  of  a  new  mission  work.  While  en- 
gaged in  this  study  it  came  to  his  knowledge  that 
Rev.  George  Pearse,  who  had  opened  a  mission  in 
Algeria,  had  expressed  an  intention  of  offering  his 


184  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

mission  to  the  Missionary  Union.  As  a  part  of  his 
investigation  the  writer  accordingly  addressed  a  let- 
ter to  Mr.  Pearse  asking  tor  information  about  the 
mission,- and  inquiring  whether  he  still  entertained 
the  idea  of  placing  his  work  in  the  hands  of  Ameri- 
can Baptists.  This  letter  was  addressed  to  the  care 
of  the  editor  of  the  "  Orphans'  Mission  Press,"  at 
Leominster.  Since  Mr.  Pearse  was  in  Algeria,  the 
letter  was  forwarded  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Guinness,  who 
were  acting  in  an  advisory  capacity  to  Mr.  Pearse' s 
mission. 

It  is  necessary  to  go  back  for  twenty-five  years 
previous  to  this  time,  in  order  to  take  up  another 
link  in  the  chain  of  providential  circumstances 
which  placed  the  Congo  mission  in  the  hands  of 
American  Baptists.  At  that  time  J.  N.  Murdock, 
d.  D.,  for  about  thirty  years  corresponding  secretary 
of  the  Missionary  Union,  was  pastor  of  the  Bowdoin 
Square  Church  in  Boston.  Dr.  Kirk,  of  the  Mount 
Vernon  Congregationalist  Church,  had  invited  Mr. 
Guinness,  a  young  and  rising  evangelist  in  England, 
to  come  to  America  to  hold  revival  meetings  in  his 
house  of  worship.  Jnst  before  leaving  for  America, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Guinness  Avere  baptized  by  immersion, 
and  upon  arriving  in  this  country  it  was  found  that 
a  knowledge  of  this  had  preceded  them,  and  they 
were  on  that  account  excluded  from  the  Mount  Ver- 
non Church.  Greatly  distressed  at  this  turn  of 
circumstances,  Doctor  Kirk  asked  Doctor  Murdock  if 
he  would  admit  the  young  English  evangelist  to  his 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    AFRICA     185 

church  in  Bowdoin  Square,  near-by.  Consent  was 
cordially  given  ;  and  so  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Guinness  began 
their  evangelistic  labors  in  America  in  the  Bowdoin 
Square  Church,  under  the  auspices  of  Doctor  Mur- 
dock,  afterward  the  secretary  of  the  Missionary 
Union.  Accordingly,  when  the  letter  to  Mr.  Pearse 
was  placed  in  their  hands,  they  recognized  it  as 
coming  from  the  society  with  which  their  old  friend, 
Doctor  Murdock,  was  connected,  and  received  it 
with  special  interest.  By  this  time  the  Congo  mis- 
sion had  so  much  expanded  that  it  was  becoming 
too  large  to  be  conducted  as  a  personal  mission,  and 
the  Guinnesses  had  been  feeling  that  for  its  proper 
development  it  should  come  under  the  management 
of  some  established  society.  Their  hearts  turned 
warmly  and  cordially  toward  their  old  benefactor 
and  the  society  of  which  he  was  the  head,  and,  being 
informed  by  the  receipt  of  this  letter  to  Mr.  Pearse 
that  American  Baptists  had  thoughts  of  mission 
work  in  Africa,  they  wrote  at  once  to  Doctor  Mur- 
dock offering  him  the  Livingstone  Inland  Mission 
on  the  Congo.  After  several  months  of  negotiation 
and  careful  deliberation,  the  mission  was  at  last 
accepted  in  September,  1884,  and  has  since  been 
conducted  wholly  by  the  Union  and  on  the  princi- 
ples established  by  its  constitution. 

In  1886,  the  opportunity  came  to  Doctor  Edward 
Bright,  the  defender  of  the  Telugu  mission  in  India, 
to  speak  a  decisive  word  in  another  important  crisis 
in  our  missionary  history.      The  mission    on    the 


186  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

Congo  had  been  adopted  by  the  Missionary  Union 
in  1884.  The  addition  of  this  work  was  received 
with  large  enthusiasm  by  the  majority  of  the  de- 
nomination, but  with  some  opposition  on  the  part 
of  others,  who  were  perhaps  moved  more  by  their 
fears  than  by  their  faith,  and  were  afraid  that  the 
additional  burdens  would  embarrass  the  work  on 
the  older  fields  of  the  Union.  Doctor  Bright  was 
then  editor  of  "  The  Examiner,"  and  for  a  time 
seemed  to  view  the  Congo  mission  with  something 
of  doubt.  In  the  spring  of  1886,  Doctor  Sims,  of 
Leopoldville,  visited  this  country.  He  was  the  first 
of  the  missionaries  on  the  Congo  to  come  to  America. 
His  statements  regarding  the  mission  were  of  great 
service  to  the  executive  committee  of  the  Missionary 
Union,  and  it  was  arranged  that  in  company  with 
A.  J.  Gordon,  d.  d.,  who  was  an  ardent  advocate  of 
the  mission,  Doctor  Sims  should  visit  some  of  the 
chief  cities  of  the  country  to  lay  before  the  leading 
Baptists  of  America  a  clear  statement  of  the  condi- 
tion of  the  mission  on  the  Congo.  Among  others  a 
parlor  conference  was  held  in  New  York  City  at  which 
Doctor  Bright  was  present.  He  listened  with  deep 
interest  to  the  statements  of  Doctor  Sims,  and  his 
explanation  of  the  difficulties,  dangers,  and  oppor- 
tunities of  the  Congo  mission.  He  became  fully 
convinced  that  this  was,  indeed,  a  work  placed  upon 
the  American  Baptists  by  God,  and  the  next  week 
he  came  out  in  "  The  Examiner  "  with  a  powerful 
and  decisive  editorial  in  favor  of  the  vigorous  pro- 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    AFRICA     187 

secution  of  the  work  on  the  Congo.  The  annual 
meeting  of  the  Union,  held  soon  after  at  Asbuiy 
Park,  confirmed  his  judgment,  and  was  one  of  the 
most  inspiring  anniversaries  ever  held  by  the  society. 
Far  sooner  than  in  the  case  of  the  Telugu  mission 
was  his  faith  and  courage  rewarded.  Within  six 
months  came  the  tidings  of  the  revival  at  Banza 
Manteke,  "  the  Pentecost  on  the  Congo,"  in  which 
more  than  one  thousand  of  the  natives  threw  their 
idols  at  the  feet  of  the  missionary,  Rev.  Henry 
Richards,  and  professed  themselves  followers  of 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  Since  that 
time  the  work  has  gone  on  at  this  station,  until  in 
1900  there  were  more  than  fifteen  hundred  church- 
members,  with  fifty-seven  native  preachers  and 
teachers,  gathered  in  three  large  Christian  churches. 
The  field  of  the  Congo  mission  in  its  characteris- 
tics is  akin  to  that  among  the  Karens  of  Burma 
and  the  natives  of  the  Pacific  Islands.  The  peo- 
ple have  no  organized  form  of  religion,  but  have  a 
simple,  natural  worship  which  has  been  proved  by 
missionary  experience  to  offer  the  most  favorable 
openings  for  the  progress  of  Christian  work.  The 
possibilities  of  work  on  the  Congo  are  already  indi- 
cated by  the  great  revival  in  Banza  Manteke,  re- 
ferred to  above,  when  more  than  one  thousand  threw, 
away  their  idols.  All  these  might  have  been  bap- 
tized at  once ;  but  the  prudence  of  the  missionary, 
Mr.  Richards,  led  him  to  baptize  only  those  whom 
he  found  by  test  to  be  worthy  of  admission  to  a 


188  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

pure  Christian  church.  A  similar  work,  although 
more  gradual  in  its  progress,  has  gone  on  at  Lu- 
kunga,  and  at  other  stations  which  have  been  blessed 
in  a  less  degree.  But  none  of  the  ten  stations  of 
the  Congo  mission  are  without  converts.  The  prog- 
ress of  the  mission  since  its  adoption  is  paralleled 
among  our  own  missions  only  by  the  early  triumphs 
of  the  Karen  mission  in  Burma.  The  work  has 
been  carred  on  in  the  face  of  great  obstacles,  on  ac- 
count of  the  unsettled  nature  of  the  country  and  the 
absence  of  banks,  trading  facilities,  and  means  of 
communication.  While,  however,  the  material  prog- 
ress of  the  work  has  met  many  difficulties,  the  spirit- 
ual advancement  has  been  most  encouraging. 

After  the  transfer  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Mis- 
sion from  Liberia  to  the  Yoruba  country,  in  1875, 
the  Foreign  Mission  Board  of  the  Southern  Baptist 
Convention  continued  its  work  on  the  Gold  Coast, 
principally  at  Abbeokuta  and  Ogbomoshaw  in  the 
interior,  and  at  Lagos  on  the  coast.  The  work  at- 
tained considerable  prosperity,  especially  at  Lagos, 
where  a  large  degree  of  self-support  was  realized, 
the  church  contributions  in  1898  amounting  to  five 
hundred  and  seventy-eight  dollars  and  ninety  cents, 
and  the  membership  reaching  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
five.  The  mission,  however,  has  encountered  the 
difficulties  common  to  missionary  work  on  the  western 
coast  of  Africa,  resulting  from  the  unhealthfulness 
of  the  climate  and  the  uncertain  character  of  the 
population.     Only  Christian  heroes   are  fitted  for 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    AFRICA    189 

this  work.  They  must  take  their  lives  in  their 
hands  for  the  sake  of  the  work  of  Christ  among  the 
heathen,  and  counting  nothing  dear,  not  even  life 
itself,  they  go  into  these  unhealthful  regions,  sus- 
tained simply  by  confidence  in  God  and  the  love  of 
souls  dying  in  darkness  without  the  light  of  the 
gospel.  A  personal  history  of  Christian  missions 
on  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  if  it  could  be  pre- 
pared, would  be  a  story  of  a  heroism  and  martyr- 
dom unequaled  in  the  annals  of  the  Christian  church. 
After  the  closing  of  the  Southern  Baptist  mission 
in  Liberia  and  the  discontinuance  of  work  by  the 
American  Baptist  Missionary  Union,  little  mission 
work  was  done  there  for  several  years  by  American 
Baptists  ;  but  toward  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury the  Lott-Carey  Foreign  Missionary  Convention, 
formed  by  Negro  Baptists  of  the  Southern  States, 
sent  out  Rev.  John  O.  Hayes,  and  continued  to  main- 
tain him  in  missionary  work  in  connection  with  the 
Ricks  Institute  in  the  vicinity  of  Monrovia,  and 
later  at  other  fields.  The  National  Baptist  Mis- 
sionary Convention  of  the  Negro  Baptists  also  from 
time  to  time  sent  several  missionaries  to  Liberia, 
but  from  failure  of  health  and  other  causes  they  re- 
turned to  America,  and  in  the  year  1900  they  had 
no  missionary  on  this  field.  Inspired  by  a  visit  of 
Rev.  Charles  S.  Morris,  formerly  pastor  of  the  Ne- 
gro Baptist  church  in  West  Newton,  Massachusetts, 
a  movement  sprang  up  in  1900  which  may  lead  to 
a  reopening  of  missionary  work  in  Liberia,  perhaps 


190  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

with  some  industrial  features.  During  his  stay  in 
Africa,  Mr.  Morris  also  visited  South  Africa,  and 
reported  excellent  results  from  the  work  of  Mr. 
Yah1,  supported  by  the  Lott-Carey  Missionary  Con- 
vention in  labors  near  Capetown.  An  interesting 
feature  of  Mr.  Morris'  visit  was  also  the  baptism  at 
Queenstown  of  thirty-three  leaders  of  "  The  African 
Native  Church."  This  is  a  body  formed  under  the 
labors  of  Rev.  Jonas  Goduka,  who  was  formerly  a 
preacher  in  connection  with  the  Wesleyan  mission 
in  South  Africa.  Becoming  dissatisfied  with  the 
views  of  the  Wesleyans  he  withdrew  from  their  serv- 
ice and  upon  personal  study  of  the  Bible,  without 
knowledge  of  the  Baptist  denomination,  he  reached 
largely  Baptist  views ;  and  this  group  of  churches, 
seventeen  in  number,  was  formed  under  his  labors, 
he  being  considered  as  the  general  overseer.  On 
coming  in  contact  with  Mr.  Morris  and  learning 
that  there  was  a  large  body  of  Negro  Baptists  in 
America  holding  views  practically  the  same  as  his 
own,  excepting  that  his  church  had  not  yet  received 
baptism  by  immersion,  he,  with  the  leaders  of  the 
churches,  was  baptized  by  Mr.  Morris,  and  they  dis- 
persed with  the  intention  of  leading  their  churches 
into  full  fellowship  with  the  Baptists.  The  name  of 
this  group  of  churches  was  changed  from  "The 
African  Native  Church  "  to  "  The  African  Baptist 
Church." 


CHAPTER   XIX 

AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS   IN    EUROPE 

THE  story  of  Baptist  missions  in  Europe  reads 
like  a  romance.  It  is  probable  that  through- 
out Europe  from  the  early  ages  of  Christianity  there 
were  always  scattered  communities  holding  sub- 
stantially Baptist  views.  One  of  these  scattered 
communities  existed  in  the  northeastern  part  of 
France.  Early  in  the  present  century,  led  by  a 
study  of  the  New  Testament,  a  few  earnest  and 
pious  souls  had  abandoned  the  errors  of  the  Roman 
church  and  formed  societies  on  New  Testament 
principles.  They  were  ignorant  of  the  fact  that 
there  were  others  in  the  world  holding  the  same 
views  as  themselves ;  but  isolated  and  persecuted, 
these  loyal  and  earnest  souls  held  fast  to  the  princi- 
ples of  the  pure  gospel.  In  1835  these  brave  New 
Testament  Christians  were  rejoiced  by  a  visit  from 
Rev.  Isaac  Willmarth,  of  America,  who  told  them 
of  the  large  body  of  Christians  across  the  ocean 
with  views  like  their  own,  based  solely  and  strictly 
upon  the  New  Testament.  The  American  Baptist 
mission  in  France  had  been  begun  in  1832  by 
Professor  Irah  Chase,  of  Newton  Theological  Insti- 
tution, with  whom  was  associated  a  native  French- 

191 


192  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

man,  J.  C.  Rostan.     Rev.  Isaac  Willmarth  was  the 

first  American  missionary  designated  to  labor  per- 
manently in  France,  and  he  organized  the  First 
Baptist  Church  in  Paris,  May  10,  1835,  and  the 
Baptists  in  northeastern  France  gladly  associated 
themselves  with  the  new  mission.  The  work  grew, 
until  in  1839  there  were  seven  Baptist  churches  in 
France  with  one  hundred  and  forty-two  members, 
and  Rev.  Erastus  Willard  as  the  only  American 
Baptist  missionary  in  the  country.  For  many  years 
the  work  has  been  carried  on  wholly  by  French- 
men. 

Great  persecutions  were  suffered  by  the  early 
Baptists,  and  one  chapel  built  by  them  was  closed 
by  the  Roman  Catholics  for  eleven  years.  It  was 
opened  in  1848  by  the  French  revolution,  which 
brought  nominal  religious  freedom  to  all.  But 
much  local  persecution  still  existed.  Rev.  Mr. 
Lepoids,  who  was  pastor  of  the  First  Church  in 
Paris  for  twenty  years,  and  others,  were  arrested 
and  thrown  into  prison  and  fined;  yet  in  spite  of 
persecution  the  number  of  churches  multiplied. 
During  the  Franco-Prussian  war  a  large  part  of  the 
male  membership  entered  the  army,  but  work  still 
went  on.  The  Baptist  mission  in  France  has  felt 
a  beneficial  influence  from  the  work  of  the  McAll 
mission,  and  Rev.  Reuben  Saillens,  who  was  the 
chief  helper  of  Rev.  R.  W.  McAll,  withdrew  from 
that  work  and  devoted  himself  to  the  Baptist  mis- 
sion.    He    organized   a    second    Baptist  church  in 


AM  ERICA X    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    EUROPE    19o 

Paris  which  has  greatly  prospered  and  gained  sev- 
eral hundred  members.  Mr.  Saillens  also  visited 
other  portions  of  France  on  evangelistic  tours,  during 
which  many  churches  were  organized,  especially  in 
the  southeastern  part  of  France  and  in  French 
Switzerland.  The  prevalence  of  New  Testament 
views  among  pious  and  devoted  Christians  of  other 
churches  has  been  characteristic  of  the  work  from 
the  beginning.  In  later  years  the  most  important 
accessions  to  the  Baptist  membership  have  been 
from  among  those  who  have  become  Baptists  from 
independent  study  of  the  Scriptures  and  afterward 
identified  themselves  with  the  mission.  Large  serv- 
ice in  this  direction  has  been  done  by  Rev.  J.  B. 
Cretin,  who  has  written  and  published  and  circu- 
lated at  his  own  expense  a  large  number  of  tracts 
on  Baptist  doctrine.  Many  of  the  pastors  of  Bap- 
tist churches  were  first  pastors  of  the  State  churches, 
and  came  independently  to  Baptist  views  before 
uniting  with  the  mission.  Several  entire  churches 
have  come  over  bodily  from  the  Eglise  Libre  (Free 
Church)  and  joined  the  Baptist  Associations — par- 
ticularly one  body  of  very  intelligent  believei's  in 
Neuchatel,  Switzerland.  Baptist  views  are  still 
very  largely  represented  in  the  pastorates  and  mem- 
bership of  the  Free  and  Reformed  Churches,  and  the 
future  progress  of  Baptist  work  in  France  will 
doubtless  be  largely  in  the  line  of  its  early  develop- 
ment. 

About  the   same   time  with   the  starting  of  the 


194  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

Baptist  movement  in  France,  certain  Christians  in 

Germany  had  also  come  to  embrace  scriptural  views 
regarding  baptism  and  the  church  ;  notable  among 
these  was  Johann  Gerard  Oncken,  of  Hamburg. 
Barnas  Sears,  d.  d.,  of  Boston,  was  providentially 
led  to  Hamburg  in  1834,  and  on  April  12  of  that 
year,  at  midnight,  a  little  band  of  seven  rowed  in  a 
small  boat  to  a  point  several  miles  from  the  city  and 
were  scripturally  baptized  by  Doctor  Sears.  This 
was  the  beginning  of  the  great  Baptist  mission  of 
central  Europe,  of  which  Mr.  Oucken  was  the  founder 
and  apostle.  By  his  labors  and  those  of  Rev.  Julius 
K5bner,  of  Denmark,  Rev.  George  W.  Lehmann, 
of  Germany,  and  others,  the  Baptist  movement  was 
rapidly  and  widely  extended  throughout  the  German 
States  of  central  Europe.  Always  have  there  been 
found  in  Germany  persons  of  deep  piety  and  com- 
munities holding  scriptural  views  of  the  church  and 
its  ordinances.  Many  of  these  united  with  Mr. 
Oncken  and  his  associates,  and  the  Baptist  move- 
ment gained  strength  with  every  year.  Severe  per- 
secutions were  encountered,  but  within  a  few  years 
the  Baptists  had  extended  from  the  little  circle  of 
seven  to  Russia,  Denmark,  Switzerland,  Lithuania, 
Silesia,  and  Poland,  and  in  1849  the  first  German 
Baptist  Conference  was  held  in  Hamburg,  repre- 
senting about  thirty  churches  and  two  thousand 
eight  hundred  members.  In  1859  twelve  young 
men,  who  had  been  instructed  in  Hamburg,  were 
ordained  to  the  Baptist  ministry  in  one  day,  Septem- 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    EUROPE    195 

ber  12.  Later,  Baptist  work  extended  to  Bul- 
garia and  Holland,  and  in  1875  the  government  of 
Prussia  passed  an  act  for  the  incorporation  of  Bap- 
tist churches. 

In  Cassel  there  is  now  a  large  publishing  house  un- 
der the  charge  of  Philip  Bickel,  D.  D.,  which  was  first 
established  in  Hamburg  by  and  continued  for  many 
years  by  Doctor  Oncken.  A  theological  seminary  in 
the  care  of  Rev.  Joseph  Lehmann  and  Rev.  J.  G. 
Fetzer  is  found  in  Hamburg  and  Baptist  churches' 
are  found  in  all  the  leading  cities  of  central  Europe. 
These  are  rapidly  multiplying  year  by  year  in  Ger- 
many and  in  all  the  countries  of  Europe.  The 
Baptist  churches  suffer  greatly  every  year  by  the 
emigration  to  America  of  some  of  their  brightest 
and  best  members,  so  that  the  increase  in  financial 
strength  is  not  proportioned  to  the  growth  in  num- 
bers. They  still  need  the  help  of  their  brethren  in 
America,  and  in  turn  the  Baptist  churches  in  Amer- 
ica receive  large  and  important  accessions  from  the 
Baptist  churches  in  Europe. 

The  large  and  flourishing  Baptist  work  in  Sweden 
is  at  once  an  outgrowth  of  the  German  Baptist  mis- 
sion and  a  remarkable  illustration  of  the  poAver  and 
value  of  religious  literature.  Before  Baptist  preachers 
were  suffered  to  openly  preach  in  Sweden,  large 
quantities  of  literature  were  circulated  among  its 
reading  people  by  the  valuable  assistance  of  the 
American  Baptist  Publication  Society,  especially 
through  Rev.  A.  AViberg,  who  was  practically  the 


196  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

founder  of  the  Baptist  mission  in  Sweden.  Not  al- 
lowed to  preach  or  to  form  churches,  he  devoted  him- 
self to  the  preparation  and  dissemination  of  Baptist 
literature  throughout  the  country,  with  the  result 
that,  when  missionary  work  by  preaching  of  the 
gospel  began,  Baptist  churches  were  rapidly  multi- 
plied. There  is  a  Baptist  theological  seminary  in 
Stockholm,  under  the  care  of  Knut  O.  Broady,  d.  d., 
and  six  or  seven  Baptist  churches  in  Stockholm,  the 
capital  city  of  Sweden,  besides  churches  in  almost 
every  other  important  town  in  the  country.  The 
Swedish  Baptist  Missionary  Union  carries  on  both 
home  and  foreign  missionary  work.  Under  its 
auspices  the  work  throughout  Sweden  has  largely 
extended  and  been  carried  into  Norway,  Finland, 
and  other  countries. 

The  Baptists  in  Sweden  occupy  a  position  toward 
the  State  Church  which  we  find  in  no  other  country. 
Owing  to  the  peculiar  laws  of  the  country,  Swedish 
Baptists  still  continue  to  be  nominally  members  of  the 
State  Church  ;  but,  taking  advantage  of  the  breadth 
of  freedom  in  worship  which  is  allowed,  they  main- 
tain their  own  churches  and  their  own  worship,  and 
are  pushing  their  vigorous  missionary  operations 
from  the  north  to  the  south  of  the  country.  There 
is  nothing  disingenuous  or  deceitful  in  the  position  of 
the  Swedish  Baptists  toward  the  religious  laws  of 
Sweden,  since  they  are  framed  to  allow  such  a  state 
of  things.  Formerly  Baptists  suffered  more  or  less 
persecution  from  the  prejudices  of  the  priests  and 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    EUROPE    11)7 

occasionally  of  the  local  authorities ;  but  these  have 
largely  passed  away,  and  everywhere  in  Sweden  the 
Baptist  work  is  carried  on  without  legal  opposition. 

Closely  allied  with  the  Baptist  work  in  Sweden  is 
that  in  Norway.  Aid  in  this  work  has  been  more 
recently  granted  by  the  American  Baptist  Mission- 
ary Union,  some  of  the  pastors  of  Norwegian 
churches  being  graduates  of  the  Bethel  Theological 
Seminary  at  Stockholm.  Here,  also,  are  found  the 
sturdy  aggressiveness  and  enthusiasm  which  charac- 
terize the  Scandinavian  race  ;  and  although  the  Bap- 
tists in  Norway  are  still  weak,  yet  within  the  last 
four  or  five  years  they  have  received  a  new  impetus 
under  the  assistance  given  from  America. 

Another  offshoot  of  the  Swedish  mission  is  the 
Baptist  work  in  Finland,  which,  although  within 
the  boundaries  of  Russia,  is  more  nearly  joined  to 
that  in  Sweden.  Here  there  sprang  up  in  the  last 
few  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  a  most  encour- 
aging work,  which  was  carried  on  at  the  first  amid 
great  opposition,  but  later  secured  a  legal  standing 
in  the  State.  The  establishing  of  a  school  for 
preachers  is  proposed,  and  the  future  of  our  Baptist 
work  in  this  extreme  northern  country  is  one  of 
promise,  unless  the  recent  act  of  the  Czar  of  Russia 
in  withdrawing  from  Finland  the  measure  of  inde- 
pendence it  formerly  enjoyed  and  bringing  it  wholly 
under  the  control  of  the  laws  of  Russia  shall  place 
Baptist  mission  work  in  Finland  at  the  same  disad- 
vantage as  in  Russia. 


198  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

The  Baptist  mission  in  Denmark  was  also  an  off- 
shoot of  that  in  Sweden,  but  was  afterward,  and 
more  naturally,  allied  to  the  work  in  Germany,  and 
was  carried  on  for  a  number  of  years  under  the 
patronage  of  the  German-American  Baptist  Com- 
mittee. It  has  now  attained  such  standing  that  a 
separate  committee  has  been  organized,  and  the  ap- 
propriations for  the  Danish  Baptist  churches  are 
made  directly  from  the  headquarters  of  the  American 
Baptist  Missionary  Union.  As  in  all  the  rest  of 
Northern  Europe,  there  is  found  in  Denmark  a 
strong  tendency  toward  Baptist  views,  and  the 
progress  of  the  Baptist  churches  is  one  of  increasing 
hopefulness.  The  net  increase  of  the  Baptists  in 
Denmark,  in  the  five  years  from  1879  to  1883,  was 
only  thirty-six;  in  the  following  five  years  it  ad- 
vanced to  three  hundred  and  eighty-five,  and  during 
the  following  five  years  the  net  gain  was  five  hun- 
dred and  ninety-one. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  outgrowths  of  the 
German  Baptist  mission  has  been  the  work  in  Rus- 
sia. It  began  among  the  German  colonies  in  South- 
ern Russia,  and  has  largely  extended,  having  at  the 
present  time  more  than  eighteen  thousand  members. 
In  common  with  all  dissenters  in  Russia,  the  Bap- 
tists of  that  country  have  suffered  severe  persecution. 
In  the  popular  mind  and  in  the  eye  of  the  priests  of 
the  Greek  Church,  they  are  identified  with  the 
Stundists.  Multitudes  of  Baptist  families  have 
been  torn  asunder,  their  children  placed  in  Greek 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    EUROPE    1SJU 

nunneries  or  monasteries,  or  with  families  who 
would  bring  them  up  in  the  accepted  doctrines  of 
the  State  Church,  and  the  parents  transported  to  Si- 
beria. Whole  churches  have  been  exiled  in  a 
body.  One  church  from  the  Baltic  provinces 
sold  all  its  property,  and  the  members  left  their 
homes  and  emigrated  to  South  America  rather 
than  endure  the  persecutions  and  trials  to  which 
they  were  subjected.  Hundreds  of  Baptists  are 
in  exile  in  the  desolate  regions  of  Siberia,  includ- 
ing many  pastors  of  Baptist  churches,  and  many 
have  fled  from  their  homes  to  central  Europe  to  es- 
cape a  like  fate.  Of  all  the  Baptists  in  the  world, 
those  of  Russia  most  greatly  need  the  sympathy  and 
prayers  of  their  brethren  for  the  severe  trials  and 
persecutions  to  which  they  are  subjected.  In  spite 
of  these  the  work  goes  on.  The  Baptist  cause 
prospers  amid  persecutions ;  now,  as  of  old,  the 
"  blood  of  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  church,"  and 
the  most  active  opposition  of  the  Greek  Catholic 
priesthood  and  of  the  officials  of  the  Russian  gov- 
ernment cannot  hinder  the  progress  of  the  truth, 
which  must  triumph  in  the  end. 

The  same  movement  for  expansion  which  led  to 
the  establishment  of  the  Baptist  mission  among  the 
Telugus  of  India,  prompted  the  opening  of  the  Bap- 
tist mission  in  Greece.  Rev.  Horace  T.  Love  and 
Cephas  Pascoe  arrived  as  missionaries  of  the  Amer- 
ican Baptists  at  Patras,  December  9,  1836,  and  re- 
ceived permission  to  circulate  the  Bible  and  preach 


200  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

the  gospel.  They  also  opened  missionary  schools.  In 
1840  the  mission  was  changed  to  Corfu.  The  first 
convert  to  be  baptized  was  very  appropriately  named 
"  Apostolos,"  and  was  received  in  the  year  1840. 
In  1844  Rev.  Albert  N.  Arnold  and  wife  and  Miss 
S.  E.  Waldo  arrived  at  Corfu,  and  Rev.  R.  F.  Buel, 
who  had  labored  at  Corfu  for  several  years,  removed 
to  Piraeus,  whence  the  mission  later  penetrated  the 
city  of  Athens.  There  was  great  opposition  and 
some  persecution  on  the  part  of  the  Greeks  ;  but,  as 
a  whole,  while  the  people  have  shown  considerable 
interest  in  listening  to  the  gospel,  they  have  never 
felt  the  force  of  the  truth  sufficiently  to  lead  them 
to  leave  their  State  Church  in  large  numbers,  and 
the  membership  of  the  Baptist  churches  in  Greece  has 
always  been  small.  Mr.  Demetrius  Z.  Sakellarios, 
one  of  the  early  converts,  has  been  the  most  promi- 
nent native  laborer  in  the  mission,  preaching  the 
gospel  in  Athens  for  a  series  of  years,  and  continuing 
his  work  even  after  the  American  Baptist  Missionary 
Union  suspended  its  operations  in  1856,  for  fifteen 
years.  In  1871  Rev.  George  W.  Gardner  and  Rev. 
D.  W.  Faunce  visited  Athens,  and  on  their  recom- 
mendation the  mission  in  Greece  was  resumed.  Mr. 
Sakellarios  having  visited  in  America  and  studied  at 
the  Newton  Theological  Institution,  was  then  ap- 
pointed a  full  missionary  of  the  Missionary  Union. 
He  married  an  American  lady,  Miss  Edmands,  of 
Charlestown,  Mass.,  and  returned  to  Greece  and 
continued  his  labors,  although  the  Missionary  Union 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    EUROPE    201 

again  discontinued  its  appropriations  to  Greece  in 
1886,  except  a  small  honorarium  to  Mr.  Sakellarios 
in  his  old  age.  After  long-continued  and  faithful 
efforts,  it  seems  to  be  apparent  that  while  the  Greeks 
are  of  high  intelligence  and  have  great  interest  in 
religious  subjects,  they  are  not  open  to  that  influence 
of  religious  truth  which  will  enable  them  to  endure 
separation  from  their  own  people  and  church  for  the 
sake  of  a  purer  gospel  and  a  more  living  faith. 

All  the  American  Baptist  missions  in  Europe 
have  been  under  the  auspices  of  the  American  Bap- 
tist Missionary  Union,  except  the  work  in  Italy, 
maintained  by  the  Foreign  Mission  Board  of  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention.  This  was  begun 
in  1870  by  Rev.  W.  N.  Cote,  m.  d.,  in  the  city  of 
Rome.  In  1873  George  B.  Taylor,  D.  d.,  was  ap- 
pointed missionary  and  superintendent  of  the  Italian 
mission.  To  his  long  services  and  able  leadership 
are  largely  due  the  success  of  Baptist  missions  in 
Italy.  He  raised  the  funds  in  America  for  the 
building  of  a  chapel  in  Rome,  which  was  completed 
at  a  cost  of  thirty  thousand  five  hundred  and  nineteen 
dollars  and  seventy-three  cents.  An  able  coadjutor 
of  Doctor  Taylor  has  been  J.  H.  Eager,  d.  d., 
who  has  labored  at  Rome,  Naples,  and  Florence. 
Baptist  churches  have  been  established  in  the  cities 
of  Rome,  Naples,  Florence,  Torre  Pellice,  Modena 
and  Carpe,  Bari  and  Barletta,  Venice,  Bologna,  and 
on  the  island  of  Sardinia.  A  steady  and  substan- 
tial progress  has  been  achieved,  not  only  in  church- 


202  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

membership,  but  especially  in  the  influence  of 
pure  spiritual  ideas  upon  the  people  of  Italy. 
Instances  have  several  times  occurred  in  which 
whole  villages  have  expelled  the  priests,  taken  pos- 
session of  the  churches,  and  turned  them  over  to 
Protestant  ministers  for  services.  In  1885  the 
"  Apostolic  Baptist  Union "  was  organized,  which 
has  been  the  means  of  the  wider  extension  of  the 
truth  and  of  a  large  circulation  of  the  Scriptures 
and  Christian  literature. 


CHAPTER  XX 

BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    SOUTH    AMERICA 

THE  natural  interest  felt  in  the  southern  portion 
of  the  Western  Hemisphere  by  the  people  of 
the  United  States  early  led  the  attention  of  Baptists 
to  be  directed  toward  missions  in  South  America. 
It  was  not,  however,  until  1 879  that  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention  authorized  its  Foreign  Mission 
Board  to  begin  a  mission  in  Brazil,  and  a  station 
was  opened  at  Santa  Barbara,  in  Sao  Paulo  Prov- 
ince, South  Brazil.  This  province  is  commer- 
cially, intellectually,  and  politically  the  most  impor- 
tant province  of  Brazil,  having  a  comparatively 
temperate  climate,  and  being  populated  by  a  class 
of  people  of  exceptional  intelligence,  industry,  and 
prosperity.  The  exports  of  the  province  are  large 
and  its  wealth  is  increasing.  Considerable  prosper- 
ity was  enjoyed  by  this  mission  from  the  first,  and 
a  Baptist  church  has  been  continued,  which,  how- 
ever, in  1900  was  without  a  resident  missionary. 

The  second  mission  to  be  established  was  at  Bahia, 
on  the  coast,  in  the  north.  Here  also  large  success 
has  been  achieved,  the  number  of  baptisms  amount- 
ing in  1897  to  sixty-two,  and  the  church  rais- 
ing about  two  thousand  dollars  for  various  relig- 

203 


204  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

ious  purposes.  In  this  mission  there  are  now  six 
churches,  one  church  being  formed  in  the  year 
1898.  A  prosperous  school  has  been  established, 
with  American  school  furniture,  and  conducted  on 
the  American  system  of  education.  The  school  en- 
joys the  large  favor  of  the  best  people  of  the  city, 
and  at  the  inauguration  many  of  the  prominent 
men  of  the  city  were  present,  including  the  secre- 
tary of  State.  The  governor  sent  a  band,  and  the 
oration  was  delivered  by  the  leader  of  the  House 
of  Representatives.  The  Baptist  church  estab- 
lished in  Rio  Janeiro,  the  capital  of  Brazil,  has 
been  largely  prospered.  A  special  revival  of  relig- 
ion was  enjoyed  in  the  year  1899,  by  which  many 
were  added  to  the  church.  A  large  expansion  has 
been  experienced  by  the  Southern  Baptist  Mission 
in  Brazil,  and  in  1898  the  ideal  was  realized  in  a 
line  of  mission  stations  from  Manaos,  on  the  Ama- 
zon River,  to  Sao  Paulo,  in  Southern  Brazil.  The 
principal  stations  occupied  are  Sao  Paulo,  Rio  Ja- 
neiro, Juiz  de  Fora,  Bahia,  Valenca,  Campos,  San 
Fidelis,  Pernambuco,  Para,  and  Bello  Horizonte. 

In  spite  of  the  prosperity  granted  to  the  mission, 
or  perhaps  because  of  it,  severe  persecutions  have 
visited  the  native  Brazilian  Christians  in  many 
places,  especially  at  Campos  and  in  the  vicinity  of 
Bahia.  This  is  not  due  to  the  laws  of  the  country, 
which  afford  entire  freedom  to  Protestant  mission- 
aries in  the  prosecution  of  their  work,  but  to  the 
hostility  of  the   Roman  Catholic   priests  and    the 


BAPTIST    MISSIONS    IN    SOUTH    AMERICA      205 

prejudices  of  the  people.  Under  their  influence 
many  of  the  Christians  have  been  injured  in  pro- 
perty, and  in  one  or  two  cases  have  given  their 
lives  for  their  faith  in  Jesus.  Yet  the  mission  con- 
tinues to  prosper,  and  an  association  has  been 
formed  in  the  southern  part  of  Brazil  called  the 
"  South  Brazil  Baptist  Association."  A  paper 
called  the  "  Good  News  "  is  published  by  the  mis- 
sion for  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel.  Several 
new  churches  were  formed  in  1898  and  1899,  and 
the  mission  enjoys  increasing  prosperity. 

Some  time  near  1880  Rev.  Paul  Besson,  a  worker 
from  the  Baptist  Mission  in  France,  removed  to 
Buenos  Ayres,  in  the  Argentine  Republic,  and  com- 
menced the  work  of  preaching  the  gospel.  He 
gathered  a  considerable  church  and  enjoyed  much 
favor  of  the  people.  In  1899  a  fine  new  church 
was  erected,  of  which  an  extended  account  was 
given,  with  a  description  of  views  of  the  Baptists,  in 
the  leading  journal  of  Buenos  Ayres.  The  growing 
prosperity  of  the  Argentine  Republic  and  the  south- 
ern States  of  Brazil  points  to  these  countries  as  in- 
creasingly important  fields  for  Baptist  missionary 
work. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

BAPTIST  WORK  IN   MEXICO,  CUBA,  AND  PORTO  RICO 

IN  the  Republic  of  Mexico  Baptist  missionary 
work  has  been  carried  on  by  the  Foreign  Mis- 
sion Board  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  and 
by  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society. 
As  early  as  1836  the  attention  of  the  latter  Society 
was  turned  toward  Mexico,  but  not  until  1870  was 
the  first  missionary  appointed.  Previous  to  this 
some  interest  in  Baptist  views  had  been  aroused  by 
the  labors  of  Mr.  John  W.  Butler,  an  Englishman, 
and  Rev.  James  Hickey,  who  settled  in  Monterey. 
On  January  30,  1864,  Mr.  Hickey  baptized  Mr.  T. 
M.  Westrup,  then  an  Episcopalian,  and  two  Mexi- 
cans, and  the  first  Baptist  church  in  Mexico  was 
formed  at  Monterey  with  five  members.  On  the 
appointment  of  Mr.  Westrup  as  missionary  by  the 
Home  Mission  Society  in  1870,  a  printing  press 
was  supplied  him,  which  partly  under  the  care  of 
this  society  and  part  of  the  time  in  charge  of  "  The 
Board  of  Baptist  Missions  of  the  Republic  of  Mex- 
ico," continued  as  a  helpful  feature  of  the  mission- 
ary work.  The  rapid  growth  of  the  new  move- 
ment was  indicated  by  the  fact  that  in  1871,  five 
years  after  the  founding  of  the  first  church,  a  report 
206 


BAPTIST    WORK    IN    MEXICO  207 

called  for  by  the  newly  established  Juarez  govern- 
ment, gives  five  churches  with  one  hundred  and  ten 
members.  Owing  to  lack  of  funds  the  support  of 
the  mission  in  Mexico  was  intermitted  for  a  time, 
and  in  1880  Rev.  T.  M.  Westrup,  with  his  brother, 
Rev.  John  O.  Westrup,  were  accepted  by  the  For- 
eign Mission  Board  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Con- 
vention as  its  first  missionaries  in  Mexico.  The 
work  of  the  Home  Mission  Society  in  Mexico  was, 
however,  never  wholly  abandoned.  Other  mission- 
aries were  sent  to  the  field,  and  in  1887  a  strong 
mission  plant  was  established  in  the  city  of  Mexico 
under  the  care  of  Rev.  William  H.  Sloan,  formerly 
superintendent  of  the  American  Baptist  Mission 
Press  in  Rangoon,  Burma.  A  fine  church  was 
erected  and  excellent  printing  facilities  provided, 
which,  by  his  thorough  knowledge  both  of  the  Span- 
ish language  and  of  the  art  of  printing,  Mr.  Sloan 
has  been  able  to  use  to  the  great  advantage  of  the 
mission.  The  paper,  "  La  Z,uz,"  "  The  Light,"  issued 
on  behalf  of  both  the  Northern  and  Southern  Bap- 
tist missions  in  Mexico,  is  truly  a  messenger  of 
light  and  salvation  to  the  people  of  the  Mexican 
Republic  as  also  to  the  Spanish-speaking  peoples  of 
the  southwestern  territories  of  the  United  States. 
In  1900  work  of  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mis- 
sion Society  in  Mexico  was  conducted  from  eleven 
centers,  the  city  of  Mexico,  Monterey,  Puebla,  San 
Luis  Potosi,  New  Laredo,  Santa  Rosa,  Linares, 
Montemordos,  Sabinas,  Balinas,  and  Cadereita,  with 


208  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

six  hundred  and  forty-three  members  in  the  mission 
churches. 

Previous  to  1880  there  were  thirteen  small  Bap- 
tist churches  in  Mexico,  composed  chiefly  of  immi- 
grants from  Texas  and  elsewhere.  One  year  after 
the  appointment  of  the  Westrup  brothers  in  this 
year  as  missionaries  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Con- 
vention, Rev.  John  O.  Westrup  was  barbarously 
murdered.  His  place  was  soon  supplied,  and  in 
1882  Rev.  W.  D.  Powell  settled  in  Saltillo.  Al- 
though meeting  with  favor  from  many,  the  success 
of  the  Baptist  movement  aroused  intense  hostility 
on  the  part  of  the  Roman  Catholic  priests  and  their 
more  bigoted  adherents.  The  narrative  of  Mr. 
Powell's  missionary  labors  is  a  tale  of  exciting  ad- 
venture. He  was  driven  out  of  places  of  worship 
he  had  secured,  attempts  were  made  on  his  life,  and 
in  one  of  his  evangelistic  tours  he  was  attacked  by 
a  highwayman.  After  a  search  to  find  what  of 
value  the  Baptist  preacher  might  have  about  his 
person,  the  highwayman  offered  to  loan  him  money 
enough  to  enable  him  to  get  home.  Not  all  of  Mr. 
Powell's  assailants  were  so  generous,  and  only  the 
hand  of  God  kept  him  amid  all  the  perils  he  en- 
countered. But  he  continued  his  labors.  In  1884 
the  Madero  Institute,  for  the  education  of  girls,  was 
founded  by  Mr.  Powell.  It  accomplished  an  ex- 
cellent service  in  a  time  when  needed,  but  with  the 
advance  of  public  educational  facilities  in  the  re- 
public its  work  seemed  to  be  unnecessary  and  it  was 


BAPTIST    WORK    IN    CUBA  209 

discontinued  in  1898.  In  Saltillo  also  is  the  Zara- 
gosa  Institute,  for  boys  and  for  training  preach- 
ers. The  churches  of  the  Southern  Baptist  mission 
continued  to  increase,  and  before  1890  a  line  of 
Baptist  mission  stations  was  established  from  the 
Rio  Grande,  the  boundary  of  Texas,  to  the  Pa- 
cific Ocean,  and  hundreds  of  converts  were  bap- 
tized. Because  of  this  growth  it  was  thought  ad- 
visable to  divide  the  mission  into  two,  the  North- 
ern and  the  Southern,  for  greater  facility  of  admin- 
istration. The  chief  centers  of  the  missions  were,  in 
1899,  at  Saltillo  and  Torreon,  in  the  State  of  Coa- 
huila,  at  Zacateeas ;  at  Doctor  Arroyo,  in  the  State 
of  Nuevo  Leon  ;  at  Morelia,  in  the  State  of  Micho- 
acan  ;  and  at  Toluca,  in  the  State  of  Mexico.  The 
last  three  form  the  South  Mexican  mission.  Larger 
prosperity  has  been  experienced  in  the  North  Mexi- 
can mission,  which  is  also  the  older.  In  both  mis- 
sions there  were,  in  1900,  one  thousand  two  hundred 
and  thirty-two  members  in  thirty-two  churches. 
The  relations  between  the  United  States  and  the 
neighboring  republic,  which  must  grow  more  inti- 
mate year  by  year,  emphasize  the  increasing  im- 
portance of  Mexico  as  a  field  for  the  labors  of 
American  Christians. 

CUBA. 

Upon  the  conclusion  of  the  war  between  Spain 
and  the  United  States  in  1899,  by  which  the  sov- 
ereignty of   Porto    Rico   and    the    protectorate    of 


210  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

Cuba  came  to  the  latter,  movements  were  at  once 
set  on  foot  for  the  re-establishment  of  Baptist  mis- 
sion work  in  Cuba  and  the  founding  of  a  Baptist 
mission  in  Porto  Rico.  A  conference  between  spe- 
cially appointed  representatives  of  the  American 
Baptist  Missionary  Union  and  of  the  American 
Baptist  Home  Mission  Society  to  arrange  an  ami- 
cable division  of  fields  in  the  new  United  States  pos- 
sessions, allotted  the  Philippine  Islands  to  the  for- 
eign mission  society  and  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  as 
home  mission  fields.  The  very  successful  work 
which  the  Home  Mission  Board  of  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention  had  inaugurated  in  Havana  and 
Western  Cuba  made  it  proper  that  those  fields  should 
be  left  to  that  Board,  which  was  agreed  upon  in 
a  conference  between  its  representatives  and  the 
American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society,  the  latter 
taking  the  responsibility  of  maintaining  Baptist 
mission  work  in  Eastern  Cuba,  including  Santiago 
de  Cuba,  and  in  Porto  Rico.  The  work  in  Santiago, 
under  Rev.  H.  R.  Moseley,  met  with  marked  en- 
couragement, especially  in  the  conversion  from 
Roman  Catholicism  of  Dr.  Jose  P.  Dikins,  presi- 
dent of  the  Pan-American  Commercial  and  Ex- 
press Company,  who  became  at  once  an  influential 
advocate  of  his  new  faith.  At  the  close  of  the 
war  the  Home  Mission  Board  of  the  Southern  Bap- 
tist Convention  at  once  resumed  its  work  in  Cuba, 
sending  Rev.  J.  R.  O'Halloran  to  Santiago.  Great 
success  attended  his  labors.     By  January  1,  1899, 


BAPTIST    WORK    IN    PORTO    RICO  ill 

lie  had  baptized  one  hundred  and  fifty  persons  and 
organized  two  churches.  According  to  the  division 
of  territory  agreed  upon  this  work  was  transferred 
to  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society. 
Rev.  A.  J.  Diaz,  m.  d.,  whose  marvelous  story  has 
been  given  in  the  chapter  on  the  Southern  Baptist 
Convention,  for  a  time  in  the  employment  of  the 
United  States  Government  as  interpreter,  and  later 
in  the  service  of  the  American  Baptist  Publication 
Society,  resumed  his  work  in  Havana  under  the 
Southern  Board,  and  he  continued  to  experience  the 
great  prosperity  which  had  previously  been  given 
to  his  labors.  Matanzas,  Santa  Clara,  and  Pinar 
del  Rio  have  also  been  occupied  for  missionary 
work,  and  from  these  four  centers  it  is  proposed  to 
extend  the  work  until  the  whole  portion  of  Cuba 
allotted  to  the  Southern  Board  shall  be  filled  with 
Baptist  stations,  centers  of  light  in  a  fair  but  shad- 
owed land. 

PORTO   RICO. 

Rev.  H.  P.  McCormick,  for  twelve  years  mis- 
sionary of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  in  Mex- 
ico, on  January,  1899,  was  appointed  the  first  Bap- 
tist missionary  to  Porto  Rico  by  the  American  Bap- 
tist Home  Mission  Society,  and  was  soon  joined  by 
Rev.  A.  B.  Rudd  and  Mrs.  Janie  P.  Duggan.  They 
were  received  with  favor  by  the  people.  But  be- 
cause of  the  destructive  tornado  which,  in  1899, 
devastated   this  beautiful   island  in  common   with 


212  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

many  other  of  the  \Vest  Indies,  and  also  in  conse- 
quence of  the  suffering  brought  upon  the  island  by 
the  delay  of  the  United  States  Government  in  estab- 
lishing a  settled  order  of  finance  and  administra- 
tion, the  work  of  the  missionaries  was  turned  to  re- 
lief of  the  people.  This  opened  the  way  in  the 
most  favorable  manner  for  the  preaching  of  the 
truth,  and  may  be  expected  to  lead  to  large  spirit- 
ual harvests  in  the  future. 


CHAPTER   XXII 

CIVILIZATION    AND    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

rpHE  indebtedness  of  science  and  civilization  to 
J-  Baptist  missions  is  large  and  important,  but  has 
hitherto  been  made  known  only  as  the  work  of  the 
different  fields  has  been  presented.  The  chief  empha- 
sis has  been  placed  upon  oral  preaching  of  the  gospel, 
and  the  incidental  advantages  which  have  accrued  to 
the  peoples  of  the  various  lands  in  which  the  mis- 
sions have  been  maintained,  and  to  the  world  at  large 
have  scarcely  been  realized  even  by  those  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  progress  of  missions.  Evangeli- 
zation, and  not  civilization,  has  been  the  aim.  But, 
while  the  gospel  has  been  preached  and  many  hun- 
dred thousand  persons  have  been  brought  into  the 
kingdom  of  Christ,  both  these  and  many  others  have 
received  large  and  manifold  blessings,  the  incidental 
accompaniments  of  all  work  for  the  advancement  of 
the  kingdom  of  Christ.  That  which  raises  and  helps 
any  people  is  a  blessing  to  the  whole  human  race. 
The  reflex  benefits  of  American  Baptist  missionary 
work  may  be  mentioned  under  seven  different  heads  : 
First,  geography ;  second,  science ;  third,  languages ; 
fourth,  literature ;  fifth,  education ;  sixth,  social 
improvement ;  and  seventh,  commerce. 

213 


214  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

Geography. — The  aid  which  exploration  and  the 
science  of  geography  have  received  from  Baptist 
missions  has  never  been  properly  recognized.  Adoni- 
ram  Judson,  the  pioneer  Baptist  missionary  of  Amer- 
ica, was  also  the  first  Protestant  missionary  to  live 
under  an  absolutely  heathen  government  in  Asia. 
Before  him,  the  idea  of  Christian  missions  had  been 
to  labor  among  heathen  populations  in  colonies  of 
Christian  governments.  So  Ziegenbalg  and  Schwartz 
went  to  the  Danish  possessions  in  India ;  Carey, 
Marshman,  and  Ward,  to  the  domains  of  the  East 
India  Company  and  the  Danish  colony  in  Seram- 
pore ;  but  Adoniram  Judson  and  his  wife,  Ann 
Hasseltine,  driven  from  the  possessions  of  the  East 
India  Company,  and  by  the  hand  of  Providence  led 
to  Burma,  heroically  established  themselves  in  resi- 
dence and  missionary  work  under  the  heathen  gov- 
ernment of  that  country,  one  of  the  worst  that  has 
ever  cursed  any  part  of  Asia.  In  this  they  set  an 
example  which  has  been  an  inspiration  to  pioneer 
missionaries  in  heathen  lands  in  all  subsequent 
times.  In  their  footsteps  and  under  their  inspiration 
many  others  have  followed,  including  such  illustrious 
names  as  John  Williams,  the  martyr  of  Erromanga  ; 
David  Livingstone,  the  heroic  missionary  and  ex- 
plorer of  Africa  ;  and  William  Morrison,  of  China. 

Judson's  great  services  in  opening  Burma  have 
been  followed  by  others  of  the  Baptist  missionaries. 
Almost  every  missionary  of  the  early  days  was  to  a 
eertain   extent  an  explorer,  and  the  geography  of 


CIVILIZATION    AND    BAPTIST    MISSIONS       215 

the  wild  portions  of  Burma  often  became  known  to 
the  English  officials  through  the  reports  and  labors 
of  Baptist  missionaries.  Special  reference  should 
be  made  to  the  early  travels  of  Eugenio  Kincaid  in 
Upper  Burma.  He  penetrated  to  Mogaung,  almost 
to  the  mountains  bordering  on  Assam,  when  he  was 
driven  back  by  the  natives  and  nearly  lost  his  life 
in  his  heroic  pioneering  exploration.  The  travels 
of  Josiah  N.  Gushing,  D.  d.,  in  opening  up  Shan- 
land,  are  well  known  to  the  scientific  world,  and 
have  received  high  appreciation  from  the  British 
Government  and  officials,  who  availed  themselves  of 
his  reports  in  planning  their  expeditions  through 
that  country,  and  of  his  services  as  interpreter  to 
their  exploring  parties. 

In  most  of  the  countries  in  which  American 
Baptist  missions  have  been  planted,  explorers  have 
preceded  the  missionaries,  except  in  some  portions 
of  the  Garo  and  Naga  Hills,  in  Assam,  where  serv- 
ices as  explorers  have  been  rendered  by  Rev.  E.  AY. 
Clark,  Rev.  M.  C.  Mason,  and  Rev.  E.  G.  Phillips. 
It  is  not  until  we  come  to  Africa  that  we  find  addi- 
tional large  and  eminent  service  to  the  science  of 
geography  performed  by  our  Baptist  missionaries. 
After  Henry  M.  Stanley  came  down  the  Congo  in 
his  famous  journey  "  Through  the  Dark  Continent," 
he  began  the  construction  of  a  road  along  the  north 
bank  of  the  river,  for  the  accommodation  of  the  large 
possibilities  of  commerce  with  the  Upper  Congo. 
There  the  first  stations  of  the  Livingstone  Inland 


216  AMERICAS    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

Mission  were  also  established.  But  the  members 
of  that  mission  saw  more  clearly  than  did  Mr.  Stan- 
ley himself  that  the  difficulties  in  the  way  by  the 
north  bank  of  the  river  were  so  excessive  as  to  be 
almost  prohibitive  to  an  easy  transport.  They  es- 
tablished stations  on  the  south  side,  first  at  Pala- 
bala,  then  at  Banza  Manteke,  and  finally  Doctor 
Sims  and  Messrs.  Banks  and  Petterson  pushed  on 
and  were  the  first  white  men  to  reach  Stanley  Pool 
by  the  south  side  of  the  Congo.  Their  discovery, 
which  opened  a  way  so  much  easier  than  along  the 
north  bank,  led  to  the  abandonment  of  Mr.  Stanley's 
road,  and  for  years  since  then  all  commerce  has 
passed  from  the  lower  to  the  upper  river  over  sub- 
stantially the  way  discovered  by  the  missionaries, 
and  running  through  the  line  of  stations  planted  by 
them.  The  railroad  up  the  Congo  also  follows  the 
general  contour  of  country  adopted  for  their  travel. 

Physical  Science. — The  chief  contribution  made 
by  Baptist  missionaries  to  physical  science  is  un- 
doubtedly the  vast  and  exhaustive  work  of  Francis 
Mason,  d.  d.,  entitled  "  The  People  and  Productions 
of  Burma."  The  preparation  of  this  work  furnished 
the  amusement  and  relaxation  of  his  busy  mission- 
ary life,  and  was  first  published  by  private  means. 
Since  the  death  of  Doctor  Mason  it  has  been  revised 
by  an  eminent  specialist  and  published  by  the  Brit- 
ish Government  in  a  costly  official  edition.  It  still 
remains  as  the  standard  authority,  not  only  on  the 


CIVILIZATION    AND    BAPTIST   MISSIONS       217 

ethnology  but  on  the  flora  and  fauna  of  Burma, 
and  holds  a  high  rank  among  similar  works  of  that 
class. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  enumerate  the  exten- 
sive services  of  Baptist  missionaries  in  the  collection 
of  scientific  specimens  for  museums  of  various  sorts 
in  this  country.  Probably  few  Baptist  missionaries 
to  any  land  have  ever  gone  forth  without  returning 
with  more  or  less  valuable  examples  of  the  geology, 
botany,  entomology,  etc.,  of  the  lands  to  which  they 
have  gone.  The  physical  departments  and  collec- 
tions of  every  Baptist  institution  in  this  country 
will  testify  to  the  diligence  of  the  missionaries  in 
this  respect.  Few  can  be  found  where  there  are 
not  at  least  some  contributions  made  by  our  Baptist 
missionaries,  and  many  institutions  outside  of  Bap- 
tist ranks  have  been  glad  to  acknowledge  their  in- 
debtedness to  our  missionaries  for  valuable  contri- 
butions to  their  scientific  collections.  If  these  scat- 
tered contributions  could  be  gathered  in  one,  the 
aggregate  would  be  found  to  be  a  large  and  valuable 
collection  of  objects  of  scientific  value,  illustrating 
not  only  the  geology  and  botany  of  various  countries, 
but  all  departments  of  scientific  research,  including 
the  chiefest  of  all  sciences,  ethnology  and  social  life. 

In  this  connection  special  mention  ought  to  be 
made  of  the  large  collections  of  scientific  objects 
brought  from  Central  Africa  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Camp, 
who  was  for  several  years  in  charge  of  the  mission 
steamer,  the  "  Henry  Keed,"  on  the  Upper  Congo 


218  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

River.  Twice  the  Smithsonian  Institution  at  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  sent  out  to  him  through  the  Ameri- 
can Baptist  Missionary  Union,  full  collecting  out- 
tits  and  supplies,  and  on  his  last  return  to  this 
country  he  brought  with  him  more  than  one  hun- 
dred cases  of  specimens  illustrating  the  geology, 
mineralogy,  entomology,  zoology,  etc.,  of  Central 
Africa,  as  well  as  specimens  of  the  valuable  and 
precious  woods  of  those  vast  interior  forests  which 
must  be  the  supply  for  the  civilized  world  in  years 
to  come.  The  whole  expense  of  the  transport  of 
this  collection  was  paid  by  the  Smithsonian  Insti- 
tution. 

Philology. — By  the  circumstances  in  which 
they  have  been  placed,  the  service  of  Baptist  mis- 
sionaries to  linguistic  science  have  been  of  peculiar 
value  and  importance.  Placed  among  many  peo- 
ples whose  languages  had  never  been  reduced  to 
writing,  they  have  performed  this  service  in  the 
interests  of  the  missionary  work,  and  at  the  same 
time  added  an  immense  store  of  information  to  com- 
parative linguistic  study.  The  brilliant  achieve- 
ments of  Baptist  missionaries  in  this  work  have 
been  widely  acknowledged.  In  Burma  alone  the 
number  of  languages  reduced  to  writing  embraces 
the  Sgaw-Karen  and  Pwo-Karen,  as  well  as  many 
minor  variations  of  these  two  leading  dialects,  such 
as  the  Bwe,  Paku,  etc.  The  Chin  language  has 
also  been  reduced  to  written  form,  and,  last  of  all, 


CIVILIZATION    AND    BAPTIST   MISSIONS       219 

by  the  labors  of  Doctor  Cushing,  Rev.  "W.  H. 
Roberts,  and  especially  Rev.  Ola  Hanson,  who  was 
sent  out  for  that  particular  work,  the  Kachin  lan- 
guage, spoken  by  several  millions  of  people,  has 
been  put  into  written  form,  and  a  full  system  of 
romanizing  perfected,  which  has  been  accepted  by 
the  government  of  British  India.  These  linguistic 
services  in  Burma  alone  have  been  sufficient  to  earn 
the  gratitude  of  all  scientists.  In  addition,  we  find 
that  in  Assam  the  same  service  has  been  rendered, 
and  the  dialect  of  the  large,  active  Garo  tribe  has 
been  reduced  to  written  form,  and  also  two  dialects 
of  the  numerous  and  powerful  Naga  tribes — the 
Angami  and  the  Ao — while  a  beginning  has  been 
made  in  several  minor  dialects,  as  the  Mikir,  etc. 

In  no  other  of  the  American  Baptist  mission 
fields  has  this  service  been  necessary  except  in 
Africa.  The  various  dialects  of  the  Congo  people 
are  branches  of  the  great  Bantu  group  of  languages, 
but  the  variations  in  different  localities  are  such 
that  each  dialect  can  be  understood  only  over  a 
limited  area,  and  all  printing,  to  be  comprehended, 
must  be  of  different  form  for  the  varied  dialects. 
The  Kikongo  has  been  reduced  to  writing  by  vari- 
ous persons,  and  Doctor  Sims,  of  Leopold ville,  who 
has  received  the  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  from 
the  French  Government,  and  has  also  been  deco- 
rated by  the  government  of  Belgium  for  his  eminent 
medical  services,  has  made  a  dictionary  of  the 
Kiteke,  and  also  a  vocabulary  of  the  Kiyansi.  Much 


220  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

work  in  other  Congo  dialects  has  been  done  by  other 
missionaries,  and  similar  services  have  been  ren- 
dered to  the  world  by  missionaries  of  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention  in  the  Yoruba  country  of  West 
Africa. 

Literature. — In  enumerating  the  services  of 
Baptist  missionaries  to  literature,  the  first  place 
must  be  given  to  Judson' s  translation  of  the  Bible 
into  the  Burman  language.  That  language  was 
already  in  a  written  form  when  Judson  went  to 
Burma,  but  no  real  attempt  had  been  made  to  con- 
nect it  with  the  English,  and  no  literature  of  West- 
ern nations  existed  in  the  Burman  tongue.  Judson, 
making  his  own  vocabulary  as  he  went  along,  made 
a  translation  of  the  Bible  into  Burman,  which  has 
done  for  that  language  what  Luther's  Bible  did  for 
the  German,  and  the  translation  of  1611  did  for  the 
English  tongue.  The  translation  was  so  wonder- 
fully accurate  that  but  little  revision  has  ever  been 
necessary,  and  the  work  of  translation  need  never 
be  repeated.  Doctor  Judson  also  prepared  an 
English-Burman  dictionary,  which  has  been,  and 
still  is,  the  standard  work  of  that  character.  A 
large  amount  of  literature,  religious  and  secular, 
has  been  produced  by  Baptist  missionaries  in  Burma, 
especially  in  the  way  of  tracts  and  school-books. 
All  the  literature  in  the  various  Karen  tongues  owes 
its  existence  entirely  to  the  Baptist  missionaries. 
The   whole  Bible   was  translated   into  the  Sgaw- 


CIVILIZATION    AND    BAPTIST    MISSIONS       221 

Karen  dialect  by  Francis  Mason,  d.  d.  ;  into  the 
Pwo-Karen  by  Rev.  D.  L.  Brayton  ;  into  Shan  by 
J.  N.  Cushiag,  d.  d.,  who  lias  also  prepared  a  dic- 
tionary of  that  language'  for  English  readers.  School- 
books  of  all  grades,  from  primary  to  scientific,  philo- 
sophical, and  theological,  have  been  brought  forth 
in  great  numbers  by  the  missionaries,  as  well  as  a 
vast  quantity  of  religious  literature  which  has  been 
circulated  largely  and  freely  among  the  people. 

Passing  to  Assam,  Dr.  Nathan  Brown,  one  of  the 
early  Baptist  missionaries  in  that  country,  enjoyed 
the  high  privilege  of  first  giving  the  New  Testament 
to  the  Assamese.  Other  books  of  the  Bible  were 
translated  by  several  missionaries,  but  the  work  of 
completing  the  translation  of  the  Old  Testament, 
and  giving  to  the  Assamese  the  full  Bible,  has  been 
in  charge  of  Rev.  A.  K.  Gurney  for  a  number  of 
years.  The  translation  is  completed  and  the  full 
Bible  in  Assamese  will  be  offered  to  the  people  in 
1901.  Aside  from  this  may  be  mentioned  the  As- 
samese English  dictionary,  prepared  by  Dr.  Miles 
Bronson  ;  and  much  work  of  revision  and  transla- 
tion of  Scriptures,  tracts,  and  other  religious  litera- 
ture has  been  done  by  Rev.  P.  H.  Moore,  of  Now- 
gong.  In  Garo  many  portions  of  Scripture  have 
been  prepared  by  Rev.  M.  C.  Mason  and  Rev.  E. 
G.  Phillips  in  the  dialect  of  that  enterprising  peo- 
ple, as  well  as  school-books  and  other  translations, 
especially  those  made  necessary  by  the  progress  of 
their  missionary  work. 


222  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

Passing:  to  India  Ave  find  the  whole  New  Testa- 
ment  translated  and  revised  by  Dr.  Lyman  Jewett, 
in  a  form  which  is  still  in  use  in  the  Baptist  mis- 
sions among  the  Telngns.  Their  beautiful  language, 
the  Italian  of  India,  has  also  been  enriched  with 
other  portions  of  Scripture,  school-books,  theologi- 
cal works,  and  a  large  number  of  religious  tracts 
and  smaller  publications.  In  Burma,  Assam,  and 
among  the  Telugus,  religious  periodicals  in  the  ver- 
nacular are  prepared  and  issued  regularly  by  the 
missionaries,  especially  for  the  benefit  of  the  Chris- 
tian converts. 

While  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  were  written 
languages  before  the  Baptist  missionaries  reached 
those  countries,  yet  a  vast  amount  of  work  has  been 
done  by  them  in  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures 
and  the  preparation  of  religious  and  secular  litera- 
ture. Rev.  Josiah  Goddard  translated  the  whole 
New  Testament  into  the  colloquial  dialect  of  Ningpo 
in  a  version  which  is  still  widely  in  use  in  that  sec- 
tion of  China.  His  son,  Rev.  J.  R.  Goddard,  com- 
pleted the  translation  of  the  Old  Testament  and 
the  work  of  father  and  son  was  united  in  1900,  giv- 
ing the  whole  Bible  to  the  people  of  the  Ningpo 
district  in  the  dialect  read  by  the  common  people. 
At  Swatow,  much  work  has  been  done  by  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Ashmore,  Dr.  S.  B.  Partridge,  William  Ash- 
more,  Jr.,  and  others,  in  the  translation  of  Scrip- 
tures and  preparation  of  religious  literature  along 
the  same  lines.     Dr.  Nathan  Brown,  who  first  gave 


CIVILIZATION    AND    BAPTIST   MISSIONS       223 

the  New  Testament  to  the  Assamese,  later  in  life 
became  a  missionary  to  Japan,  and  enjoyed  the 
unique  distinction  of  having  given  the  New  Testa- 
ment also  to  the  Japanese  in  a  version  which  is  by 
many  considered  to  be  the  best  in  use  among  the 
Japanese  people.  He  led  the  way  also  in  using  the 
kiina,  or  pure  Japanese  native  character,  in  printing, 
the  usual  method  of  printing  Japanese  having  been 
to  so  interlard  the  Japanese  characters  with  Chinese 
as  to  make  it  difficult  for  the  common  people  to 
learn  to  read.  Doctor  Brown's  example  has  had  a 
large  influence  upon  Japanese  printing,  and  the  use 
of  Chinese  characters  is  to  be  abolished  in  Japan, 
and  either  Doctor  Brown's  method  or  the  Roman 
characters  adopted  for  printing  for  the  Japanese 
people. 

The  same  service  which  has  been  rendered  to 
the  Karens  of  Burma  and  the  hill  tribes  of  Assam 
by  our  Baptist  missionaries,  is  now  being  rendered 
for  the  people  of  the  Congo  by  their  Baptist  brethren 
in  that  region.  The  Gospels  have  been  translated 
into  the  Kikongo,  the  Kiteke,  and  other  dialects, 
and  a  beginning  made  in  the  preparation  of  school- 
books,  especially  those  of  a  primary  character,  for 
these  untaught  but  intelligent  people.  The  services 
which  Baptist  missionaries  have  rendered  to  the 
various  peoples  among  whom  they  have  labored,  by 
the  introduction  of  an  elevated  and  elevating  litera- 
ture, both  religious  and  secular,  are  inestimable, 
and  cannot  be   properly  judged  by  the  bare  state- 


224  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

ments  which  have  been  given.  How  much  of  spirit- 
ual and  intellectual  life  has  come  and  will  come 
from  these  services  can  only  be  rightly  known  by 
the  future  development  of  those  to  whom  they  have 
been  given. 

Education. — Next  to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel 
and  the  translation  of  the  Bible,  schools  must  be  con- 
sidered as  an  important  element  of  missionary  work. 
While  American  Baptist  missionaries  have  never 
placed  the  principal  emphasis  on  schools  as  an  evan- 
gelizing agency,  they  have  ever  been  ready  and  zeal- 
ous in  establishing  and  conducting  schools  for  the 
broadening  and  deepening  of  the  religious  interest 
and  the  training  of  Christian  workers  who  should  be 
prepared  to  labor  intelligently  and  usefully  among 
their  own  people.  In  Burma,  aside  from  the  theo- 
logical seminary  at  Insein,  near  Rangoon,  which 
has  now  been  enlarged  to  include  work  for  all 
races,  there  is  also  in  Rangoon  a  Baptist  college  in 
affiliation  with  the  University  of  Calcutta,  and  for 
all  the  numerous  races  of  Burma.  The  Sgaw-Karen 
Normal  and  Industrial  Institute  at  Bassein,  and  nu- 
merous high  schools  at  Rangoon,  Moulmein,  and  at 
other  of  the  larger  stations,  the  Baptist  Mission  Girls' 
School  at  Kemendine  in  Rangoon,  and  the  Morton 
Lane  Seminary  at  Moulmein,  also  the  schools  for 
boys  and  girls  of  all  the  various  races  of  Burma  found 
in  every  mission  station,  as  at  Tavoy,  Toungoo, 
Shwegyin,   Henzada,  Mandalay,  etc.,  and  the  hun- 


CIVILIZATION    AND    BAPTIST    MISSIONS       225 

dreds  of  primary  schools  in  the  scattered  villages 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  Burma,  are 
rendering  a  service  to  the  civilizing  and  enlighten- 
ing of  the  polyglot  people  of  that  country  which 
cannot  be  suitably  estimated  or  described. 

The  same  sort  of  work  is  being  done  on  all  the 
mission  fields.  In  Assam  we  find  the  high  school 
at  Tura  and  the  industrial  school,  which  has  also 
done  much  for  the  Garo  people.  There  are  many 
schools  in  all  the  Christian  Garo  villages,  as  well  as 
at  the  various  missions  stations,  both  in  the  plains 
and  on  the  hills.  A  school  for  training  Christian 
workers  among  the  Nagas  is  maintained  at  Impur. 

At  the  head  of  Baptist  educational  work  in  the 
Telugu  mission  is  the  theological  seminary  at  Rama- 
patam,  occupying  one  of  the  finest  educational  build- 
ings in  southern  India,  erected  at  a  cost  of  fifteen 
thousand  dollars.  The  Baptist  Mission  College  at 
Ongole,  established  by  the  energy  of  Dr.  John  E. 
Clough,  has  been  affiliated  with  the  Madras  Uni- 
versity as  a  second-grade  college.  The  Bucknell 
Memorial  Industrial  School,  at  Nellore,  is  a  prom- 
ising feature  of  the  mission,  as  well  as  schools  at  all 
the  mission  stations  throughout  the  Telugu  mis- 
sion. The  value  of  the  education  which  these  Bap- 
tist mission  schools  has  given  to  the  peoples  of 
Burma,  Assam,  and  India  is  fully  recognized  by  the 
government  of  India,  which  cordially  appropriates 
money  for  school  buildings,  as  well  as  for  the  con- 
duct of  the  school  work  every  year. 


226  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

In  the  missions  in  China  there  is  a  biblical  school 
at  Shaohing,  for  the  training  of  native  preachers,  a 
biblical  class  at  Swatow,  also,  for  the  same  purpose, 
a  training  school  for  Bible  women,  and  schools  for 
Christian  girls  and  boys  at  Swatow,  Canton,  Teng- 
chow,  Ningpo,  Kinhwa,  and  other  places,  which 
are  doing  much  to  prepare  the  Christian  converts 
for  that  development  of  China  which  is  sure  to  come 
in  the  near  future.  As  China  recovers  from  the 
social  and  political  earthquake  of  1900  the  value 
of  the  training  acquired  by  the  Christian  converts 
in  Baptist  and  other  mission  schools  will  be  recog- 
nized and  will  bring  them  to  the  front  ;  and  instead 
of  being  despised  and  persecuted,  as  they  now  very 
generally  are,  these  Christians  educated  by  the  mis- 
sionaries will  be  fitted  to  be  leaders  of  their  people 
in  the  onward  march  of  enlightenment  and  civiliza- 
tion. 

Baptist  educational  work  in  Japan  is  not  yet  ex- 
tensive, but  most  excellent  work  is  being  done  by 
the  Baptist  theological  seminary  at  Yokohama,  in 
the  preparation  of  preachers  for  the  Baptist  mis- 
sions. A  Baptist  academy  has  been  established  at 
Tokyo,  a  boys'  school  in  Osaka,  and  most  excellent 
service  is  being  done  for  Japanese  girls  in  the 
Sarah  Curtis  Home  at  Tokyo,  the  Mary  L.  Colby 
Home  at  Yokohama,  in  the  Heinrich  Memorial 
Home  at  Chofu,  a  suburb  of  Shimonoseki  in  south- 
western Japan,  and  at  the  Ella  O.  Patrick  Home 
in  Sendai. 


CIVILIZATION    AND    BAPTIST    MISSIONS       227 

The  educational  force  of  the  Baptist  mission  on 
the  Congo  is  represented  by  a  biblical  training 
school  at  Banza  Manteke  for  the  preparation  of 
native  preachers  and  evangelists,  a  normal  school  at 
Lukunga  for  the  training  of  teachers  and  Christian 
workers,  and  a  school  at  Leopoldville,  under  the  care 
of  Doctor  Sims,  which  combines  both  literary  and 
industrial  features.  Eight  different  tribes  have  been 
represented  at  the  same  time  in  this  school,  the  most 
of  them  coming  from  the  upper  river,  to  which  in 
due  time  they  will  be  fitted  to  return  and  become 
leaders  and  centers  of  light  among  their  own  peo- 
ple. There  are  also  smaller  schools  at  each  of  the 
mission  stations.  The  Yoruba  mission  sustains 
schools  needed  for  the  education  of  the  children  of 
Christians  and  the  training  of  Christian  helpers. 
The  excellent  school  for  girls  in  connection  with 
the  Southern  Baptist  mission,  in  Bahia,  Brazil,  has 
already  been  mentioned,  as  well  as  the  schools  for 
the  higher  education  of  young  men  and  young 
women  at  Saltillo,  Mexico. 

Sociology. — The  advantages  which  accrue  to 
every  nation  through  the  presence  of  missionaries 
are  well  known  in  every  country  and  community 
into  which  our  Baptist  missionaries  have  gone.  They 
have  performed  a  service  for  the  social  improvement 
of  the  people  which  has  been  widely  and  cordially 
recognized  by  all  those  competent  to  form  a  judgment 
in  the  matter.     In  Burma,  the  wild  and  oppressed 


228  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

and  scattered  Karen  tribes  have  been  largely  brought 
to  become  obedient  and  loyal  citizens  through  the 
efforts  of  Baptist  missions  and  the  Karen  Christians 
connected  with  them.  In  speaking  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Karens  of  Burma,  the  Administration 
Report  for  1880-1881  says  : 

Foremost  in  this  work  have  been  American  mission- 
aries of  the  Baptist  persuasion.  There  are  now  attached 
to  this  communion  no  less  than  four  hundred  and  fifty- 
one  Christian  Karen  parishes,  most  of  which  support 
their  own  church,  their  own  Karen  pastor,  and  their  own 
parish  school,  and  many  of  which  subscribe  considerable 
sums  in  money  and  kind  for  the  furtherance  of  mission- 
ary work  among  Karens  and  other  hill  races  beyond  the 
British  border.  Christianity  continues  to  spread  among 
the  Karens  to  the  great  advantage  of  the  commonwealth, 
and  the  Christian  Karen  communities  are  distinctly  more 
industrious,  better  educated,  and  more  law-abiding  than 
the  Burman  and  Karen  villages  around  them.  The  Karen 
race  and  the  British  government  owe  a  great  debt  to  the 
American  missionaries  who  have,  under  Providence, 
wrought  this  change  among  the  Karens  of  Burma. 

The  same  sort  of  service  has  been  rendered  by 
Baptist  missionaries  wherever  they  have  labored 
among  other  wild  tribes.  In  Assam,  the  Garos 
have  been  reduced  to  order  and  submission  to  Brit- 
ish authority  largely  through  the  influence  of  the 
Baptist  missionaries  and  the  Christian  converts. 
Rev.  E.  W.  Clark  established  his  residence  among 
the  Angami  Nagas  far  in  advance  of  government 
outposts,  and  when  the  English  annexed  the  Naga 


CIVILIZATION    AND    BAPTIST    MISSIONS       229 

territory,  those  in  his  immediate  locality  submitted 
without  opposition.  Prof.  Haraprasad  Sastri,  senior 
professor  of  Sanscrit  in  the  Presidency  College, 
Calcutta,  says :  "  Christian  missionaries  of  various 
denominations  have  done  much  good  in  advancing 
education,  in  reclaiming  hill  tribes,  and  giving  shape 
to  their  languages." 

One  of  the  most  illustrious  examples  of  social 
improvement  by  missionary  eifort  is  found  in  its 
effect  upon  the  degraded  outcaste  population  of 
India.  Of  the  fifty-five  thousand  converts  of  the 
American  Telngu  mission,  all  but  a  very  few  belong 
to  the  outcastes,  who  were  despised  and  oppressed, 
and,  in  fact,  in  practical  slavery  to  the  higher  classes 
and  castes.  The  great  multitude  of  these  converts 
have  been  but  recently  won  to  Christianity,  and 
Christian  education  has  not  had  time  to  have  its 
full  eifect  upon  the  most  of  them.  Yet  enough  has 
been  done  to  show  what  will  be  the  final  influence 
of  this  elevating  force  upon  that  people.  Children 
of  Christian  Telngu  converts,  trained  in  the  mission 
schools,  the  college,  and  theological  seminary,  come 
out  on  a  full  intellectual  equality  with  the  proud 
and  haughty  Brahmans  and  members  of  the  upper 
castes.  In  conversation  and  in  religious  contro- 
versy with  these  representatives  of  the  despised  out- 
castes, the  Brahman  often  finds  himself  at  a  dis- 
advantage. His  intellectual  acumen  and  training 
are  in  vain  against  the  broad  and  trained  intelli- 
gence of  these  Christians.     In  the  civil  service  ex- 


230  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

animations,  the  member  of  the  upper  caste  finds 
himself  seated  side  by  side  with  the  despised  out- 
caste  trained  in  Christian  schools,  and  very  fre- 
quently, to  his  shame  and  indignation,  finds  the 
coveted  prize  awarded  to  one  whom  he  has  consid- 
ered beneath  his  contempt.  The  haughty  Brahman 
is  humbled,  his  pride  is  brought  low,  and  even  in  his 
shame  and  anger  he  cannot  help  recognizing  the 
power  of  the  Christian  influence  and  the  training 
which  has  raised  these  despised  outcastes  to  a  rivalry 
with  himself  in  intelligence  and  power. 

Another  special  influence  of  Christian  training 
and  illustration  of  its  power  is  found  in  the  mis- 
sions in  Africa.  The  curse  of  the  coast  region  of 
Africa  is  the  rum  and  gin  introduced  from  civilized 
countries.  By  his  temperament  the  untaught  Afri- 
can is  incapable  of  resisting  the  taste  for  alcoholic 
liquors.  The  art  of  self-control  is  unknown  to  him. 
Once  he  tastes  alcohol  it  becomes  his  master,  and  it 
is  for  this  reason  that  the  introduction  of  rum  and 
alcoholic  liquors  among  the  native  peoples  of  Africa 
means  death  and  destruction  to  the  people,  and  often- 
times depopulation  of  whole  districts.  Against  this 
onrushing  tide  of  destruction  the  only  opposing  in- 
fluence which  has  been  found  to  stand  is  the  Chris- 
tian convert.  He  has  learned  the  art  of  self-control. 
He  has  been  taught  the  benefits  of  self-mastery ; 
he  has  learned  to  subordinate  selfish  desires  and 
passions  to  higher  thoughts  and  to  nobler  good ;  and 
it  is  safe  to  say  that  where  rum  is  introduced  on  the 


CIVILIZATION    AND    BAPTIST    MISSIONS       231 

coast  of  Africa  the  only  temperate  people  to  be 
found  are  the  Christians.  If  Africa  is  to  be  saved 
from  the  destruction  of  drunkenness,  that  twin  curse 
to  African  slavery,  the  salvation  must  come  through 
the  converts  of  the  Christian  missions.  In  this 
respect  our  American  Baptist  missionaries  are  ren- 
dering most  noble  service.  Total  abstainers  them- 
selves, as  being  connected  with  an  American  mission, 
they  insist  on  total  abstinence  on  the  part  of  the 
native  converts ;  and  wherever  the  heathen  about 
them  are  capable  of  appreciating  social  order,  pros- 
perity, health,  and  happiness,  their  example  and  in- 
fluence will  have  a  profound  effect  for  good  upon 
all  the  peoples  of  Africa. 

Commerce. — The  influence  of  Christian  missions 
in  the  development  of  trade  is  at  the  present  time 
well  understood.  Wherever  missionaries  go  the 
character  of  the  people  is  elevated,  and  their  de- 
mands are  increased.  As  one  missionary  says, 
"  The  first  call  of  a  convert  from  heathenism  is  for 
clean  clothes  and  a  better  house."  The  spirit  of 
the  gospel  is  a  spirit  of  order.  The  missionary  work 
is  a  standing  illustration  of  the  truth  that  "  cleanli- 
ness is  next  to  godliness."  In  all  countries  where 
Baptist  missionaries  have  gone,  they  have  had  a 
pronounced  effect  on  the  development  of  trade  with 
the  natives.  The  Karens  as  a  heathen  people  have 
almost  no  wants  which  they  cannot  themselves 
supply.      They    build    their    own    simple    houses, 


232  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

make  their  own  clothing,  and  provide  their  own 
food.  The  introduction  of  Christianity  among 
the  Karens  is  an  example  of  its  effects  upon  any 
people  of  a  similar  wild  and  degraded  character. 
The  Karens  are  not  deficient  in  business  enterprise, 
nor  are  they  lacking  in  men  of  property  and  wealth. 
Converted  to  Christianity,  these  men  have  demanded 
better  homes ;  others  around  them  become  desirous 
of  the  same.  Their  clothing  becomes  more  ample, 
and  of  a  better  character.  No  longer  are  their  sim- 
ple and  rude  arts  able  to  supply  their  wants.  All 
the  Christian  communities  in  Burma  are  on  the  way 
to  development  to  the  condition  of  the  Karen  Chris- 
tian communities  in  Bassein.  This  is  a  model  and 
a  standard  for  the  social  effects  of  missionary  work. 
Here  we  find  a  people,  formerly  wild  and  savage, 
become  a  prosperous,  orderly,  and  enterprising  com- 
munity. Their  churches  they  have  built  by  their 
own  means ;  their  schools  are  largely  supported  by 
themselves ;  for  their  normal  and  industrial  insti- 
tute they  have  built  a  fine  and  ample  building, 
called  the  Kothabyu  Memorial  Hall,  and  this  school, 
largely  maintained  by  their  own  resources,  turns 
out  every  year  teachers  and  artisans  fitted  to  labor 
for  the  development  of  their  own  people.  They 
conduct  a  lumber  business,  with  a  sawmill,  having 
all  the  improved  facilities  of  civilized  commerce. 
This  mill  is  a  public  enterprise,  and  all  its  income 
is  devoted  to  the  maintenance  of  their  school. 
Here  we  find  a  brilliant  and  impressive  illustra- 


CIVILIZATION    AND    BAPTIST    MISSIONS       233 

tion  of  what  Christianity  will  do  for  the  lowest  of 
peoples. 

The  whole  business  of  Burma  in  all  departments 
has  also  received  an  immense  impetus  from  the 
labors  of  Baptist  missionaries  and  the  converts  they 
have  gathered.  Mechanical  and  agricultural  im- 
plements are  imported  from  America  ;  clothing  of 
every  sort  is  demanded  ;  the  arts  of  the  printing 
presses  are  brought  into  use  ;  the  improved  houses 
required  by  the  people,  as  well  as  the  schoolhouses 
and  churches  which  they  erect,  create  a  demand  for 
builders'  hardware  and  other  materials,  and  there  is 
hardly  a  line  of  the  manufacturers  of  civilized  lands 
which  is  not  required  to  some  extent  by  the  con- 
verts gained  from  heathenism. 

What  is  true  of  Burma  is  true  also  of  Assam  in 
a  less  degree,  and  of  the  converts  in  every  heathen 
country.  Civilization  will  not  produce  Christian- 
ity, but  Christianity  always  produces  civilization. 
Wherever  the  missionary  goes,  there  follows  an  in- 
crease of  trade.  This  is  true  in  China,  in  Japan, 
but  more  especially  of  the  Christian  converts  start- 
ing from  a  lower  state,  as  among  the  hill  tribes  of 
Burma,  Assam,  and  the  peoples  of  Africa.  Here 
in  Africa  a  larger  commerce  will  find  its  chief  en- 
couragement from  Christian  missions.  Secular  com- 
merce seeks  its  own  aim  and  the  largest  profit. 
It  seeks  to  obtain  the  productions  of  Africa  at  the 
lowest  cost,  and  to  pay  for  them  as  largely  as  possi- 
ble in  alcoholic   liquors.     This  policy  is  sure  de- 


234  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

struction  to  every  form  of  legitimate  commerce.  It 
depopulates  the  country,  ruins  the  people,  renders 
them  drunken,  worthless,  lazy.  A  section  of  country 
treated  in  this  way  soon  ceases  to  yield  any  possi- 
ble profit  to  those  who  have  introduced  the  means 
of  destruction.  Even  the  governments  of  large  por- 
tions of  Africa  are  now  finding  it  necessary  to  pro- 
hibit the  importation  of  alcohol  in  the  interests  of 
commerce  alone.  Only  vigorous,  healthy,  enter- 
prising peoples  can  be  of  assistance  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  commerce  of  Africa.  If  rum  goes  in 
trade  goes  out.  In  the  development  of  a  larger 
trade  in  the  Congo  Valley,  and  other  parts  of  Africa, 
the  Baptist  missionaries  are  rendering  and  will  ren- 
der most  judicious  and  helpful  service,  and  their 
contributions  toward  commerce  in  the  highest  and 
best  sense  are  larger  than  can  be  estimated  in  figures. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

THE    PAST    AND   THE   FUTURE 

THE  diversified  missionary  activities  of  the  Bap- 
tists of  the  United  States,  as  described  in  the 
preceding  pages,  although  experiencing  abundant 
prosperity,  yet  because  of  the  separation  of  interests 
involved,  have  never  made  that  impression  upon  the 
religious  world  which  their  importance  would  justify. 
The  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union  has  long 
stood  at  the  head  of  the  foreign  missionary  societies 
of  the  world  in  the  number  of  couverts  gathered 
into  its  mission  churches,  but  is  ranked  as  the  eighth 
among  the  large  missionary  societies  of  the  world  in 
point  of  income.  It  has  even  been  attempted  to 
show  that  the  Baptists  of  America  are  divided  into 
several  denominations  because  of  their  separation  in 
missionary  work,  and  the  head  of  the  religious  de- 
partment of  the  United  States  census  in  1890  actu- 
ally reported  the  Baptists  of  this  country  as  three 
denominations.  It  is  easily  discovered,  however, 
that  there  is  no  real  foundation  for  such  a  division, 
since  all  the  churches  are  one  in  polity,  both  mem- 
bers and  pastors  are  transferred  among  the  churches 
without  any  of  the  formalities  which  exist  in  passing 
from  one  denomination  to  another,  and  to  all  intents 

235 


236  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

and  purposes  they  are  one  denomination.  It  is  also 
easily  discovered  that  if  diversity  of  missionary  ac- 
tivities should  be  held  to  form  a  denominational 
distinction,  the  Baptists  of  the  United  States  must 
be  divided  not  only  into  two  or  three,  but  into  seven 
or  eight  different  denominations,  since  there  are  at 
least  this  number  of  separate  and  independent  mis- 
sionary societies  enjoying  the  peculiar  loyalty  and 
support  of  the  Baptists  in  different  portions  of  the 
country.  It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  the 
authority  of  the  United  States  census  has  been  given 
to  so  unjust  and  unwarranted  a  division  of  those  who 
are  really  one. 

The  separation  in  missionary  activities  has  also 
operated  to  cause  the  benevolent  contributions  of 
Baptists  to  appear  smaller  than  they  really  are.  In 
other  denominations,  where  we  find  the  whole  de- 
nominational effort  in  foreign  missions  and  in  home 
missions  concentrated  into  one  society,  which  not 
only  carries  on  all  the  foreign  missions,  but  all  home 
mission  work  of  every  character,  with  perhaps  a 
separate  Board  for  educational  work,  and  a  few 
other  minor  societies,  the  contributions  are  massed 
in  a  sum  which  appears  large  in  comparison  with 
the  receipts  of  even  the  largest  of  our  Baptist  mis- 
sionary societies.  In  order  to  stand  on  a  parity 
with  other  denominations,  the  contributions  of  the 
Baptists  of  the  United  States  for  the  two  foreign 
missionary  societies,  the  American  Baptist  Mission- 
ary Union  and  the  Foreign  Mission  Board  of  the 


THE    PAST   AND    THE    FUTURE  237 

Southern  Baptist  Convention,  should  be  consoli- 
dated, including  the  contributions  to  the  woman's 
foreign  missionary  societies;  and  the  contributions 
for  home  missions  should  include  not  only  the  re- 
ceipts of  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission 
Society,  and  the  Home  Mission  Board  of  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention,  and  Missionary  De- 
partment of  the  American  Baptist  Publication  Soci- 
ety, but  the  combined  receipts  of  the  Baptist  Con- 
ventions of  all  the  States  and  Territories,  and  the 
multitude  of  other  missionary  societies,  none  of 
which  are  reported  in  the  general  denominational 
statistics,  but  all  of  which  represent  activities  which 
are  included  in  the  home  mission  work  of  the  larger 
Boards  of  other  denominations  which,  because  of 
this  combination,  have  been  supposed  to  contrib- 
ute more  largely  to  home  as  well  as  to  foreign 
missions  than  do  the  Baptists.  If,  however,  all  the 
sums  contributed  to  similar  work  as  that  reported 
in  the  larger  societies  of  other  religious  bodies  were 
added  together  in  one  sum  it  would  be  found  that,  so 
far  as  can  be  gathered,  for  the  year  1899,  for  exam- 
ple, the  entire  contributions  of  Baptists  for  missionary 
purposes  amounted  to  the  grand  total  of  one  million 
nine  hundred  and  fifty-three  thousand  seventy-eight 
dollars  and  twenty-nine  cents,  a  sum  in  excess  of  the 
largest  contributions  for  similar  purposes  reported 
by  any  other  religious  denomination  in  the  United 
States.  This  is  only  for  current  benevolent  pur- 
poses, and  does  not  include  contributions  to  educa- 


238  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

tional  and  other  institutions  for  endowment,  nor  the 
income  of  the  multitude  of  city  missions  and  other 
enterprises  of  that  character  supported  by  Baptists. 
After  a  careful  study  through  a  series  of  years,  it  is 
the  conviction  of  the  writer  that  in  regard  to  the 
amount  contributed  for  benevolence,  the  Baptist  de- 
nomination does,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  stand  first  in 
the  United  States.  Of  the  above  amount,  seven 
hundred  and  thirty-six  thousand  one  hundred  and 
twelve  dollars  and  twenty-eight  cents  was  given  for 
foreign  missionary  work,  and  one  million  two  hun- 
dred and  sixteen  thousand  nine  hundred  and  sixty- 
six  dollars  and  one  cent  for  missions  in  the  United 
States. 

In  this  volume  an  attempt  has  been  made  first  to 
tell  the  story  of  American  Baptist  missions  as  begun 
and  carried  on  under  the  name  of  the  General  Mis- 
sionary Convention,  then  to  give  an  account  of  the 
founding  of  the  other  missionary  societies  of  the  Bap- 
tists in  this  country,  and  to  indicate  the  lines  of  work 
in  the  foreign  missionary  enterprise  to  which  each 
of  these  societies  addressed  itself,  and  finally  to  give 
as  full  and  comprehensive  a  history  as  the  limits  of 
the  volume  would  allow  of  the  later  years  of  the 
missions  of  American  Baptists  on  the  different  fields, 
combining  in  one  view  the  operations  of  various  so- 
cieties which  are  engaged  upon  the  same  field.  The 
narrative  covers  a  period  of  only  eighty-eight  years  ; 
but  what  a  marvelous  growth  from  the  small,  weak, 
and  disunited  body  of  Baptists  in  America  in  1812 


THE   PAST    AND    THE    FUTURE  239 

to  the  magnificent  denomination  of  1 900  !  Then  there 
was  not  a  single  institution  or  interest  which  engaged 
the  attention  of  all  the  Baptists  in  this  country. 
Now  six  theological  seminaries  and  a  multitude  of 
colleges  and  other  schools  of  a  lesser  grade  indicate 
the  growth  in  educational  lines  from  one  college, 
now  known  as  Brown  University,  to  the  present 
large  development.  In  churches  and  denomina- 
tional strength  the  Baptists  stand  among  the  first 
in  the  country,  and  by  means  of  their  great  and 
powerful  missionary  organizations,  they  exercise  a 
potent  influence  in  the  religious  activities  of  the  en- 
tire world. 

On  April  23,  1900,  there  died  in  the  city  of 
Rangoon,  Burma,  a  missionary  at  the  age  of  ninety- 
two  years,  whose  life  more  than  spanned  the  entire 
period  covered  by  American  Baptist  foreign  mis- 
sions. At  the  birth  of  Rev.  Durlin  L.  Brayton, 
both  his  nation  and  his  denomination  were  weak 
and  insignificant  among  the  civil  and  religious  forces 
of  the  world.  He  lived  to  see  his  country  advance 
from  a  little  people,  not  yet  wholly  freed  from  the 
domination  of  the  mother  country  and  without  influ- 
ence in  the  world  at  large,  to  a  powerful  nation  of 
seventy  millions  of  people,  whose  word  is  acknowl- 
edged to  carry  the  balance  of  power  in  the  delicate 
international  questions  pending  among  the  nations 
of  the  earth.  He  saw  his  denomination  spring  with 
almost  startling  rapidity  from  its  despised  position 
among  the  religious  bodies  of  America  to  hold  a 


240  AMERICAN    BAPTIST    MISSIONS 

foremost  position,  not  only  at  home  but  in  world- 
wide missionary  work  in  all  the  earth.  He  entered 
upon  his  missionary  labors  the  same  year  that  Queen 
Victoria  was  raised  to  the  throne  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  and  saw  the  small  area  of  British 
possessions  in  India  extended  to  cover  the  entire 
peninsula  of  Hindustan,  with  the  added  provinces 
of  Burma  and  Assam,  and  the  title,  "  Empress  of 
India,"  added  to  that  of  "  Queen  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland."  When  he  entered  the  missionary  field 
the  countries  open  to  Christian  missions  were  few,  and 
the  labors  of  the  missionaries  were  surrounded  with 
immense  difficulties,  manifold  perils,  and  obstacles 
apparently  almost  insurmountable.  He  lived  to  see 
every  nation  of  importance  on  the  face  of  the  earth 
open  to  the  labors  of  the  messengers  of  Christ,  the 
powerful  and  dominant  religions  of  Asia  gradually 
fading  before  the  increasing  splendor  of  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness,  to  view  the  nations  of  the  earth 
largely  subdued  to  the  power  and  influence  of  na- 
tions bearing  the  name  of  Christ,  and  to  behold  the 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ  established  as  the  leading 
and  dominant  religion  of  the  earth,  by  which  not 
only  the  laws  and  customs  of  Christian  nations  and 
their  intercourse  with  each  other  are  shaped,  but  to 
the  principles  of  which  the  legislation  and  political 
conduct  of  even  pagan  nations  were  compelled,  in 
some  measure,  at  least,  to  conform.  If  any  prophet, 
pointing  to  the  little  boy  among  the  green  hills  of 
Vermont,  had  ventured  at  that  time  to  predict  one- 


THE    PAST   AND    THE    FUTURE  241 

half  of  the  growth  of  the  United  States  in  power,  in 
wealth,  and  in  the  appliances  of  civilization,  or  the 
splendid  progress  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  in  its 
missions  and  its  influence  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth,  and  had  named  the  results  which  this  history 
has  shown  to  have  been  achieved  by  the  Baptist 
denomination  at  home  and  abroad,  he  would  have 
been  esteemed  as  unworthy  of  attention  and  as  in- 
dulging in  the  wildest  vagaries  manufactured  out  of 
the  stuff  that  dreams  are  made  of. 

In  view  of  the  marvelous  development  of  Chris- 
tian missions  in  the  United  States  of  America,  and 
of  the  spread  of  Christianity  and  civilization  through- 
out the  nations  of  the  world,  who  will  dare  venture 
to  predict  what  may  be  seen  by  the  boy  now  living 
among  the  hills  of  New  England  ?  Even  before  the 
beginning  of  the  twentieth  century,  China,  the  only 
great  and  powerful  purely  pagan  nation  remaining 
in  the  earth,  lies  at  the  feet  of  the  leading  Christian 
powers.  The  future  of  her  government,  her  social 
and  commercial  development,  and  largely  her  relig- 
ious progress,  is  to  be  indicated  by  those  who  bear 
the  name  of  Christ.  It  has  often  been  said  that 
with  China  Christian  two-thirds  of  the  battle  for 
the  world-wide  extension  of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus 
Christ  would  be  won.  Considering  the  marvelous 
progress,  especially  in  the  latter  half  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  what  may  not,  on  the  most  reason- 
able anticipations,  be  predicted  of  the  twentieth  ? 
Long  before  its  first  half  shall   have   passed  away, 

Q 


242  AMERICAN    BAPTIST   MISSIONS 

shall  not  the  vision  of  the  prophet  be  realized  when 
a  nation  shall  be  born  in  a  day,  and  the  brightest 
visions  of  the  Old  Testament  prophets,  and  even  of 
the  book  of  Revelation,  be  realized  ?  In  view  of 
the  triumph  of  the  gospel  in  the  nineteenth  century, 
there  are  substantial  grounds  for  the  assurance,  so 
cheering  to  every  servant  of  Christ,  that  long  before 
the  close  of  the  twentieth  century  the  era  shall  dawn 
when  the  Redeemer  of  the  world  shall  become  the 
King  of  nations,  and  "  to  him  every  knee  shall 
bow  and  every  tongue  shall  confess  that  he  is  Lord, 
to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father." 


APPENDIX  A 


ENGLISH    BAPTISTS   AND    THEIR    MISSIONS 

WHILE  American  Baptists  form  by  far  the  larger 
portion  of  the  Baptist  body  in  the  world,  num- 
bering more  than  four  millions  in  the  United  States, 
the  Baptists  occupy  an  important  and  influential 
position  in  Great  Britain,  and  number  between 
three  hundred  and  fifty  and  four  hundred  thousand. 
They  are  divided  into  two  bodies,  the  General  Bap- 
tists and  the  Particular  Baptists,  both  holding  to 
immersion  as  the  only  form  of  baptism,  the  General 
Baptists  being  somewhat  freer  in  their  views  in 
regard  to  the  Communion,  but  resembling  the  Bap- 
tists in  the  United  States  in  a  general  Calvinistic 
trend  in  their  theological  attitude ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  Particular  Baptists  are  more  strict 
in  their  views  in  regard  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  but 
tend  toward  Arminian  views  in  theology.  For 
many  years  these  two  bodies  conducted  their  foreign 
missionary  work  separately  ;  but  a  few  years  ago  the 
society  of  the  Particular  Baptists  was  amalgamated 
with  the  English  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  the 
pioneer  of  modern  missionary  societies,  formed  at 
Kettering  in  1792.     This  society,  therefore,  repre- 

243 


244  APPENDIX    A 

sents  the  entire  Baptist  hotly  of  Great  Britain  in  its 
foreign  missionary  work. 

The  largest  missions  of  the  society  are  in  India ; 
hut  it  has  also  an  important  work  in  China,  in  the 
Congo  Free  State,  West  Africa,  in  the  West  Indies, 
in  France,  in  Italy,  and  in  Palestine. 

The  missions  in  India  have  about  seventy-five 
missionaries  and  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  native 
evangelists.  The  college  founded  by  William  Carey 
at  Serampore  is  still  maintained  as  an  institution  for 
the  training  of  native  ministers  under  this  society, 
and  the  native  churches  in  the  vigorous  and  grow- 
ing mission  have  recently  established  the  Indian 
Baptist  Missionary  Society  for  aggressive  work 
under  native  auspices  in  various  parts  of  India. 
This  society  now  has  branches  in  the  Northwest 
Provinces,  in  Bengal,  East  Bengal,  and  Orissa.  It 
is  entirely  supported  by  contributions  from  the 
native  churches  and  already  employs  four  native 
missionaries.  A  printing  press  is  maintained  at 
Calcutta,  the  continuation  of  that  established  by 
William  Carey  at  Serampore,  in  which  a  large 
amount  of  religions  printing  is  done,  not  only  for  the 
English  Baptist  Society  but  for  the  American  Bap- 
tist Missionary  Union  and  other  bodies  maintaining 
missions  in  India.  Several  Anglo-Indian  Baptist 
churches  are  in  affiliation  with  the  missions  of  tin's 
society,  which  also  lias  a  special  work  among  the 
natives  who  speak  English.  The  Orissa  mission  of 
this  society  is  of  special  interest  to  American  Bap- 


APPENDIX    A  245 

tists,  as  being  that  with  which  Rev.  Amos  Sutton 
was  connected,  whose  address  at  the  meeting  of  the 
General  Missionary  Convention  at  Richmond,  in 
1835,  was  the  means  of  establishing  the  American 
Baptist  Telugu  Mission.  The  society  also  maintains 
an  extremely  interesting  mission  in  Ceylon,  where 
an  affiliated  body  has  been  formed  called  the  Ceylon 
Baptist  Union. 

The  missions  of  English  Baptists  in  China  are 
located  in  the  provinces  of  Shangtung,  Shensi,  and 
Shansi.  The  whole  work  has  been  conducted  with 
great  vigor  and  success,  employing  about  thirty  mis- 
sionaries and  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  native 
evangelists.  A  large  amount  of  self-support  and 
native  management  had  been  developed  in  connec- 
tion with  these  missions  before  the  terrible  events 
of  the  year  1900  in  China,  which  resulted  in  the 
entire  removal  of  the  missionary  force,  as  all  three 
of  these  fields  were  located  in  the  centers  of  great- 
est disturbance.  About  ten  of  the  missionaries  be- 
came martyrs  for  the  gospel  at  the  hands  of  the 
murderous  mobs,  and  like  all  other  missions,  the 
situation  of  the  English  Baptist  work  in  China  at 
the  close  of  1900  was  in  abeyance  awaiting  the 
developments  of  the  future. 

The  English  Baptist  mission  in  the  Congo  Free 
State  has  been  the  most  aggressive  in  advance 
toward  the  interior  and  in  exploration  of  any  of  the 
missions  on  that  field.  Especially  Rev.  George 
Grenfell  has  done  more  exploring  in  the  region  of 


246  APPENDIX    A 

the  Upper  Congo  Valley  than  any  other  one  man, 
and  perhaps  more  than  all  others  together,  with  the 
exception  of  the  officers  of  the  Congo  Free  State. 
By  special  request  of  the  king  of  Belgium,  Mr. 
Grenfell  was  released  from  missionary  duties  for  a 
time  that  he  might  become  commissioner  of  the 
State  in  the  delimitation  of  the  frontier  between  the 
Congo  State  and  the  Portuguese  territories  adjoin- 
ing. The  mission  occupies  ten  stations,  extending 
from  Matadi  in  Lower  Congo,  and  San  Salvador  in 
Portuguese  Congo,  to  Yakusu  at  Stanley  Falls,  in 
Central  Africa.  This  mission  has  been  conducted 
with  great  good-will  in  connection  with  the  Congo 
mission  of  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union, 
and  in  many  ways,  especially  in  regard  to  steamer 
transportation  on  the  Upper  Congo,  both  missions 
have  been  able  to  afford  assistance  one  to  the  other. 
American  Baptists  have  to  acknowledge  with  grati- 
tude many  favors  which  the  English  Baptist  mis- 
sion, with  their  two  steamers,  the  "Peace"  and 
"  Good  Will,"  have  been  abje  to  afford  the  Ameri- 
can Baptist  mission  on  the  Congo. 

The  West  Indies  missions  of  the  English  Bap- 
tists report  about  thirty-five  thousand  church-mem- 
bers and  have  largely  become  self-supporting,  espe- 
cially those  in  Jamaica  and  in  the  Bahama  group 
are  entirely  so,  with  the  exception  of  assistance  af- 
forded to  Calabar  College,  in  Kingston,  Jamaica. 
The  Jamaica  Baptist  Union  has  been  in  existence 
fifty  years,  has  held  its  annual  meeting  with  regu- 


APPENDIX   A  247 

larity  throughout  the  half-century,  and  beeu  of  great 
aid  in  the  development  of  Baptist  work  on  that 
island. 

English  Baptist  work  in  France  is  confined  to 
Brittany,  and  engages  the  attention  of  but  one  mis- 
sionary with  six  native  evangelists,  while  the  mis- 
sions in  Italy  are  more  extended,  embracing  a  very 
successful  mission  in  Rome  itself,  also  the  missions 
in  North  Italy,  in  the  Tuscan  district,  the  whole 
comprising  six  missionaries,  with  twelve  native 
evangelists. 

An  exceedingly  interesting  feature  in  English 
Baptist  missions  is  that  at  Nablous,  near  Jacob's 
Well,  in  Palestine,  maintained  by  Rev.  El.  Karey, 
with  sub-stations  at  Samaria  and  five  other  places. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Karey  have  suffered  much  persecu- 
tion, but  still  continue  their  work,  and  much  is 
being  done  by  the  maintenance  of  a  prosperous  girls' 
school,  where  the  future  mothers  of  the  district  are 
trained  in  principles  of  Christianity. 


APPENDIX   B 


CANADIAN    BAPTISTS    AND   THEIR   MISSIONS 

THE  Baptists  of  Canada,  who  number  about  one 
hundred  thousand,  have  two  foreign  mission- 
ary societies,  that  of  the  Maritime  Provinces,  in- 
cluding Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick,  and  Prince 
Edward  Island,  and  the  Ontario  Board,  which  is 
also  supported  by  the  Baptists  in  Quebec,  Manitoba, 
and  the  Northwest  Territory,  as  well  as  the  province 
of  Ontario.  The  missions  of  these  two  societies, 
however,  are  practically  one,  occupying  a  field  of 
the  Telugu  territory  of  southeastern  India,  north  of 
the  mission  of  the  American  Baptist  Missionary 
Union.  They  have  felt  the  influence  of  the  large 
ingathering  experienced  by  the  American  mission. 
A  very  successful  theological  seminary  is  maintained 
at  Simulcotta,  and  the  missions  are  well  organized, 
co-operating  with  each  other  in  every  respect  as  if 
under  the  administration  of  one  Board,  and  uniting 
with  the  American  mission  in  a  Quinquennial  Con- 
vention for  the  consideration  and  better  prosecution 
of  Baptist  mission  work  among  the  Telugu  people. 
The  native  papers  and  Sunday-school  lessons  pre- 
pared by  the  American  mission  are  used  in  common 

248 


APPENDIX    B  24(» 

by  the  Canadian  laborers  and  mission  churches.  For 
all  practical  purposes  the  missions  of  the  three  so- 
cieties might  be  considered  as  one  effective  force  for 
the  propagation  of  the  gospel  among  the  Telugus. 


APPENDIX  C 


BAPTISTS    IN    AUSTRALASIA    AND    SOUTH    AFRICA 

A  COMPLETE  view  of  Baptists  in  the  world 
outside  of  the  United  States,  will  also  include 
the  very  respectable  and  vigorous  body  of  Baptists 
iu  Australasia,  including  Australia,  Tasmania,  and 
New  Zealand,  where  they  now  number  nearly  twenty 
thousand.  Several  large  and  important  churches 
are  found  in  the  principal  cities  of  Australia,  while 
the  Baptists  of  New  Zealand  have  shown  much 
energy  and  vigor  in  their  work.  Australian  Bap- 
tists also  maintain  an  independent  and  separate  mis- 
sion of  their  own  in  Bengal,  India,  which,  however, 
is  working  in  complete  harmony  and  co-operation 
with  the  English  Baptist  mission  in  that  province  of 
British  India. 

In  South  Africa  Baptists  number  somewhat  more 
than  three  thousand,  covering  the  territories  for- 
merly known  as  Cape  Colony,  the  Orange  Free 
State,  and  Transvaal,  with  one  church  at  James- 
town, on  the  island  of  St.  Helena,  which  is  affiliated 
with  the  South  African  Baptist  Union.  They  have 
a  periodical  called  the  "  South  African  Baptist,"  and 
in  the  rapid  development  which  will  come  to  this 
250 


APPENDIX    C  251 

territory,  Baptists  will  undoubtedly  share.  During 
the  war  between  the  English  government  and  the 
Transvaal  Republic  the  work  of  the  Baptist  churches, 
especially  in  the  Transvaal  and  the  Orange  Free 
State,  was  entirely  interrupted,  and  the  circulation 
of  "  The  South  African  Baptist "  was  necessarily 
suspended  for  a  period  of  six  months,  as  it  was  im- 
possible to  distribute  the  paper  to  its  subscribers  on 
account  of  the  interruption  and  disorganization  of 
the  mail  facilities.  Several  of  the  Baptist  pastors 
were  compelled  to  leave  their  fields,  but  a  number 
heroically  remained,  although  without  the  promise 
of  support,  and  ministered  to  the  sick  and  wounded, 
and  the  prisoners.  Several  entered  the  Ambulance 
Corps  of  the  British  army,  and  one  Baptist  pastor 
was  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Spion  Kop.  With 
the  restoration  of  peace  the  work  of  the  churches 
was  largely  resumed,  and  the  Baptists  of  South 
Africa  look  forward  with  hope  and  confidence  to 
aggressive  and  prosperous  work  under  better  auspices 
than  have  prevailed  in  the  past. 


APPENDIX  D 


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GENERAL  INDEX 


Abbott,  Elisha  L. :  sailing  of,  44  ; 
and  the  Bassein  mission,  74. 

Adams,  Joseph  S.,  opened  mission 
at  Hanyang,  169. 

Adamsen,  Hans,  missionary  in 
Siam,  157. 

Africa:  beginning  of  missions  in, 
39,  182;  nature  of  missions  in, 
188. 

African  Baptist  Missionary  So- 
ciety, organization,  39. 

African  Native  Church,  the, 
changed  to  Baptist,  190. 

Allan,  Mrs.,  gift  for  Liu  Chiu  mis- 
sion, 178. 

American  and  Foreign  Bible  So- 
ciety, formation  of,  50. 

American  and  Foreign  Missionary 
Society,  formation  of,  91. 

American  Baptists:  growth  of, 
238 ;  first  in  United  States  in  be- 
nevolent contributions,  238 ;  one 
denomination,  235. 

"  American  Baptist,"  the,  92. 

American  Baptist  Anti-Slavery 
Convention,  formation,  53. 

American  Baptist  Free  Mission 
Society,  formation  of,  91. 

American  Baptist  Home  Mission 
Society  :  founding  of,  88  ;  mis- 
sion of,  in  Mexico,  206 ;  its  work 
in  Cuba,  210:  work  of,  in  Porto 
Rico,  211. 

American  Baptist  Missionary 
Union,  the,  change  of  name  of 
convention  to,  70. 

American  Baptist  Publication  So- 


ciety :  takes  Bible  work  of  Bap- 
tists, 52 ;  formation  of,  81 ;  aid  to 
missions  in  Sweden,  195. 

American  Bible  Society,  relations 
with.  46. 

American  Bible  Union,  formation 
of,  50. 

American  Board  of  Commissioners 
for  Foreign  Missions,  formation 
of.  9. 

Amherst,  occupied,  36. 

Arakan:  Judson's  voyage  to,  24; 
ceded  to  the  English,  36. 

Argentine  Republic,  Baptist  work 
in,  205. 

Arnold,  Albert  N.,  missionary  in 
Greece,  200. 

Arthur,  J.  H.,  missionary  in  Japan, 
175. 

Ashmore,  William :  arrival  of,  at 
Bangkok,  153 ;  arrival  of,  at  Swa- 
tow,  163. 

Assam:  opening  missions  in,  45, 
122;  missions  to  animistic  races 
in,  128. 

Atlantic  cable,  first  use  of,  for  Bap- 
tist missions,  108. 

Aungbinle.  imprisonment  at,  33. 

Ava  :  first  visit  to,  27 ;  second  visit 
to,  32 ;  imprisonment  at,  33. 

Baldwin,  Thomas:  correspond- 
ence of,  with  William  Carey,  6 ; 
with  Adoniram  Judson,  11. 

Bangkok :  opening  of  mission  at, 
152:  burning  of  mission  build- 
ings of,  154. 

253 


254 


GENERAL    INDEX 


Banks,  C.  B.,  first  to  reach  Stan- 
ley Pool,  216. 

Banza  Manteke,  revival  at,  187. 

Baptism :  of  two  thousand  two 
hundred  and  twenty-two  in  one 
day,  141 ;  of  one  thousand  six 
hundred  and  seventy -one  in  one 
day,  117. 

Baptist  General  Tract  Society:  re- 
moval to  Philadelphia,  31  ;  for- 
mation of,  81. 

"Baptist  Missionary  Magazine": 
circulation  of,  in  South  declined. 
3 ;  adopted  by  the  General  Con- 
vention. 29 :  name  of,  changed,  7. 

Baptist  Missionary  Society  for 
Propagating  the  Gospel  in  India 
and  other  Foreign  Parts,  forma- 
tion of,  12. 

Baptist  Young  People's  Society, 
the  first,  8. 

Baptist  Youth's  Missionary  So- 
ciety, New  York,  formation  of,  7. 

Baptists,  position  of,  in  1812,  4. 

Barcbet,  S.  P.,  missionary  at  Ning- 
po,  167. 

Bari,  Italy,  baptism  of  church  of 
seventy-five  members,  63. 

Bassein :  beginning  of  Sga  w-Karen 
mission  in,  74, 10") ;  separation  of, 
from  the  Missionary  Union,  92, 
110;  self-support  in,  105. 

Bceeher.  John  S. :  missionary  at 
Bassein,  76;  separation  of,  from 
Missionary  Union,  110. 

Bennett,  A. A.,  founded  Yokohama 
Theological  Seminary,  175. 

Bennett,  Cephas,  superintendent 
of  Baptist  Mission  Press  in  Bur- 
ma, 109. 

Bhamo,  course  of  mission  at,  112. 

Bible  Day,  arrangements  for,  86. 

Bickel,  Philip:  appointed  by 
American  Baptist  Publication 
Society,  83  ;  manager  of  German 
Baptist  Publication  House,  195. 

Binney,  J.  G. :   founded  Karen 


Theological  Seminary,  107; 
founded  Rangoon  Baptist  Col- 
lege, 107. 

Bolles.  Lucius:  corresponding  sec- 
retary of  the  General  Conven- 
tion. 31 ;  and  formation  of  Home 
Mission  Society,  89. 

Bond,  A.  L.,  loss  of,  65. 

Boston  Association,  formation 
of,  6. 

Boston,  headquarters  transferred 
to,  30. 

Bowen,  T.  J.,  transferred  to  Bra- 
zil, 61. 

Brand,  J.  C,  missionary  at  Mito, 
177. 

Bray  ton,  Durlin  L. :  translator  of 
Pwo-Karen  Bible,  109;  separa- 
tion of,  from  the  Missionary 
Union,  110;  saw  whole  mission- 
ary growth,  239. 

Brazil,  opening  of  mission  in,  6-1, 
203. 

Bright,  Edward  :  and  the  Telugu 
mission,  134 ;  and  the  Congo 
mission,  185;  home  secretary  of 
the  Missionary  Union,  73. 

Broady,  Knut  0.,  president  of 
Stockholm  Theological  Semi- 
nary, 196. 

Bronson,  Miles :  founder  of  Now- 
gong  Orphan  Institution,  124; 
dictionary  of,  124. 

Brown,  Nathan :  opened  mission 
in  Assam,  45;  connection  with 
American  Baptist  Free  Mission 
Society,  93  ;  translated  New  Tes- 
tament into  Assamese,  124  :  into 
Japanese,  222;  missionary  in  Ja- 
pan, 175. 

Brown  University,  the  first  Baptist 
educational  institution,  12. 

Buel,  R.  F.,  missionary  in  Greece, 
200. 

Burma :  character  of  native  king- 
dom of,  21,  103 ;  climate  of.  22  : 
Baptist  missions  in,  102, 119 ;  con- 


GENERAL    INDEX 


255 


quest  of  upper,  112 :  editions  of 
the  Bible  in,  109 ;  martvrs  in  mis- 
sions of,  117;  other  missions  in, 
104;  self-support  in,  119;  Baptist 
missionary  convention  in,  120. 

Burman  Bible:  Judson's,  produc- 
tion of,  22 ;  providentially  saved, 
3G. 

Burman  church,  the  first,  26. 

Burman  dictionary  printed,  33. 

Burman  theological  school,  be- 
ginning of,  107. 

Butler,  John  W.,  founder  of  Bap- 
tist work  in  Mexico,  206. 

Camp,  J.  H.,  collections  of,  for 
Smithsonian  Institution,  217. 

Campbell,  George,  opened  mission 
in  Kayin,  164. 

Campbell,  W.  W.,  opened  mission 
in  the  Deccan,  148. 

Canadian  Baptist  mission  at- 
tempts in  Siam,  155. 

Canton  Station  of  Southern  Bap- 
tist Convention,  58,  160. 

Carey,  Felix,  in  Burma,  21. 

Carey,  Lott,  appointed  missionary, 
40. 

Carpenter,  C.  H. :  missionary  at 
Bassein,  76 ;  and  Rangoon  Bap- 
tist College,  107 ;  use  of  cable  for, 
108;  death  of,  in  Japan,  177. 

Carpenter,  Mrs.  C.  H.,  supported 
mission  in  Hokkaido,  177. 

Carson,  A.  E.,  opened  station  for 
the  Kachins,  16, 116. 

Cauldwell,  Thomas,  treasurer,  17. 

Chandler,  John  H.,  mission  printer 
in  Siam,  154. 

Charleston  Association,  formation 
of,  6. 

Chase,  Irah,  deputy  to  France,  42 ; 
191. 

Chekiang  Baptist  Association,  for- 
mation of,  167. 

Children  of  missionaries  in  serv- 
ice, 118. 


China:  plan  to  reach  west  prov- 
inces of,  by  Assam,  45 ;  missions 
in,  159;  formation  of  Baptist 
publication  society  in,  161 ;  up- 
risings in,  169. 

Chittagong,  mission  at,  27. 

Civil  War,  its  effect  on  Baptist 
missions,  61,  78. 

Clark,  E.  W. :  as  an  explorer,  215; 
opened  mission  to  the  Nagas, 
127. 

Clement,  E.  W„  principal  of  Dun- 
can Academy,  Tokyo,  176. 

Clough,  John  E. :  appointment  as 
missionary,  126 ;  founded  Ongole 
College,  225. 

Cochrane,  W.  W.,  opened  station 
at  Namkham,  116. 

Colley,  W.  W.,  transferred  to 
Yoruba  mission,  62. 

Colman,  James:  arrival  of,  in 
Burma,  25 ;  death  of,  27. 

Colman,  Mrs.  James,  married 
Amos  Sutton,  132. 

Columbian  University :  founding 
of,  29 ;  transfer  of,  to  Board  of 
Trustees,  30. 

Commerce,  services  of  Baptist  mis- 
sions to,  231. 

Concert  of  prayer  for  missions 
recommended,  29. 

Congo  mission,  story  of  the,  182. 

Cote,  W.  N.,  missionary  in  Rome, 
63,  201. 

Crawford,  T.  P.,  missionary  in 
China,  162. 

Cretin,  J.  B.,  author  of  "  Tracts  on 
Baptism,"  etc..  193. 

Cuba:  opening  of  mission  in,  66; 
division  of,  between  Northern 
and  Southern  Baptist  Boards,  68, 
210 ;  reopening  of  mission  work 
in,  209. 

Cushing,  J.  N. :  made  Shan  dic- 
tionary, 221 ;  reducing  Chin  lan- 
guage to  written  form.  219 :  trans- 
lator of   Bible  into  Shan,  109; 


256 


GENERAL    INDEX 


founder  of  mission  at  Bhamo, 
112  ;  travels  of,  in  Shanland,  215. 
Cutler,  0.   T.,  opened  mission  in 
Assam,  45. 

David,  W.  J.,  transferred  to  Yoruba 
mission,  62. 

Day,  Samuel  S.,  first  missionary  to 
the  Telugus,  -14,  133. 

Dean,  William,  arrival  of,  in  Siam. 
42,  153. 

Dearing,  John  L.,  president  of 
Yokohama  Theological  Semi- 
nary, 176. 

Deccan,  opening  of  mission  in  the, 
148. 

Demarara,  Baptist  mission  in,  63. 

Denmark,  Baptist  mission  in,  198. 

Deputations,  44,  77. 

Diaz,  A.  J. :  conversion  of,  and 
founding  Baptist  mission  in 
Cuba,  66,  211 ;  with  American 
Baptist  Publication  Society,  87. 

Dibrugarh,  opening  of  station  at, 
129. 

Dikins,  Jos6  P.,  converted  in  San- 
tiago, 210. 

Downie,  D.,  and  Nellore  mission, 
151. 

Duncan  Academy,  opening  of,  176. 

Duncan,  Samuel  W.,  interest  in 
Tokyo  Baptist  Academy,  176. 

Eager,  J.  H.,  missionary  in  Italy, 
201. 

East  India  Company,  the,  expelled 
the  Judsons  from  India,  20. 

Education,  services  of  Baptist  mis- 
sions to,  224. 

"  Edwin  Forrest,"  loss  of  the,  65. 

English  Baptist  Missionary  So- 
ciety, formation  of,  6. 

Faunce,  D.  W.,  visit  of,  to  Greece. 

200. 
Female  Mite  Society,  Providence 

R.  I.,  formation  of,  8. 


Fetzer,  J.  G.,  professor  in  Ham- 
burg Theological  Seminary,  195. 

Fielde,  Miss  Adele  M.,  organiza- 
tion of  Bible  women  by,  164. 

Finland,  mission  in,  197. 

Firth,  John,  work  of,  among  tea 
garden  laborers,  127. 

Fisher,  C.  H.  D.,  opened  work  in 
Mito,  176. 

Foster,  John  M.,  organized  Bible 
classes,  165. 

France,  Baptist  missions  in,  191. 

"  Franc's  Chapel,"  106. 

Friesen,  Abram,  opened  Nalgonda 
station,  149. 

Gardner,  George  W,,  visit  of,  to 
Greece,  200. 

Garo  Mission,  character  of,  125. 

General  Missionary  Convention  of 
the  Baptist  Denomination  in  the 
United  States  of  America  for 
Foreign  Missions :  delegates  to 
the  meeting  of,  for  organization, 
13  ;  organization  of,  14 ;  constitu- 
tion of,  14. 

Geography,  services  of  Baptist  mis- 
sions to,  214. 

German  Baptist  mission,  begin- 
ning of,  42,  193. 

German  Baptist  Publication  So- 
ciety, 83. 

Goble,  Jonathan,  missionary  in 
Japan,  93,  174. 

Goddard,  Josiah,  founded  mission 
at  Ningpo,  166  ;  arrival  at  Bang- 
kok, 153  ;  translated  New  Testa- 
ment, 222. 

Goddard,  J.  It.,  translated  Old 
Testament,  167,  222. 

Goduka,  Jonas,  founder  of  the  Af- 
rican native  church,  190. 

Going,  Jonathan,  formation  of 
Home  Mission  Society  and,  88. 

Gold  Coast,  mission  on  the,  188. 

Gordon,  A.  J.,  and  the  Congo  mis- 
sion, 186. 


GENERAL    INDEX 


25 


Granger,  James  N.,  deputation  to 
Burma,  77. 

Grant,  J.  S.,  medical  missionary  at 
Ningpo,  167. 

Graves,  R.  H.,  missionary  iti 
China,  61,   160. 

Greece,  mission  in,  45,  199. 

Guinness  family  and  the  mission 
on  the  Congo,  183. 

Gurney,  A.  K.,  completed  transla- 
tion of  Assamese  Bible,  124,  221. 

Hakkas,  opening  of  mission 
among,  164. 

Hall,  Gordon,  sailing  of,  10, 

Hanson,  Ola,  reduced  Chin  lan- 
guage to  written  form,  219. 

Hanyang,  opening  of  mission  at, 
169. 

Harrington,  C.  K.,  professor  in  Yo- 
kohama Seminary,  176. 

Harris,  Norman,  separation  of, 
from  Missionary  Union,  110. 

Harris,  Mrs.  Robert,  gift  of,  to  Dun- 
can Academy,  176. 

Hayti,  mission  in,  42,  92. 

Henderson,  A.  H.,  opened  station 
at  Mongnai,  115. 

Hickey,  James  M.,  founder  of  first 
Baptist  church  in  Mexico,  90, 206. 

Holmes,  J.  L.,  murder  of,  162. 

Holton,  Calvin,  missionary  to  Li- 
beria, 40. 

Hough,  George  H. :  his  arrival  in 
Burma,  23  ;  retired  from  mission, 
36  ;  leaves  Rangoon,  24. 

Huntley,  G.  A.,  missionary  at 
Hanyang,  169. 

Indians,  missions  among  Amer- 
ican, 30,  38. 

Insein,  site  of  theological  semi- 
nary, 106,  107. 

Italy,  mission  in,  63,  201. 

James,  J.  S.,  loss  of,  65. 

Japan :  opening  of  Southern  Bap- 


tist mission  in,  65;  the  progress 
of  missions  in,  173. 

Jenkins,  Horace,  principal  of  Bible 
school  at  Shaohing,  166. 

Jewett,  Lyman  :  at  Prayer  Meet- 
ing Hill,  135:  missionary  to  the 
TelugUS,  133, 134  ;  translated  New 
Testament  into  Telugu,  222. 

Johnson,  J.  W.,  opened  mission  at 
Swatow,  163. 

Jones,  John  Taylor,  first  mission- 
ary to  Siam,  42.  152. 

Judson,  Adoiiiram  :  sailing  of,  9; 
appointed  missionary  of  the 
Baptist  Convention,  17;  arrival 
of,  in  Burma,  20  ;  baptism  of,  11 ; 
first  missionary  to  heathen  king- 
dom of  the  East,  102 ;  imprison- 
ment of,  33  ;  incident  at  Ando- 
ver  Seminary,  10;  services  to 
geography,  214;  translated  the 
Bible  into  Burman,  220. 

Judson,  Ann  Hasseltine:  sailing 
of,  10;  baptism  of,  11;  return 
of,  from  America,  33 ;  death  of, 
35. 

Karen  home  mission  societies, 
formation  of,  105. 

Karen  military  police,  formation 
of,  114. 

Karen  missions  in  Siam,  155. 

Karen  theological  seminary,  be- 
ginning, 107. 

Karens,  tribal  divisions  among, 
111. 

Khamti,  the  same  as  Sbans,  45. 

Kincaid,  Eugenio,  travel  of,  in 
Upper  Burma,  215. 

Kirkpatrick,  M.  B.,  opened  station 
at  Hsipaw,  115. 

Knowlton,  M.  J.,  "the  Western 
Confucius,"  166. 

Kobner,  Julius,  missionary  in  Den- 
mark, 194. 

Kols,  mission  to,  126. 

Ko  Than  Byu  Memorial  Hall,  106. 


•Jo  I 


GENERAL    INDEX 


Lagos,  self-support  at,  188. 
Lehmann,  George  \\\,  missionary 

in  Germany,  194. 
Lehmann,    Joseph,    professor   in 

German      Baptist     Theological 

Seminary,  195. 
Liberia:  opening  of  missions  in, 

40,    02,   182 ;   discontinuance   of 

missions  in,  62,  182. 
Lincoln,  Heman,  first  president  of 

American  Baptist  Home  Mission 

Society,  89. 
Literature,  service  of  Baptist  mis- 
sions to,  220. 
Liu    Chiu    Islands,    mission    in, 

178. 
Livingstone  Inland  Mission,  the, 

183. 
Lord,  E.  C,  missionary  at  Ningpo. 

160. 
Lott    Carey    Foreign    Missionary 

Convention,  the,  189. 
Lough    Fook,    sold    himself   into 

slavery,  63. 
Loughridge,  A.,  principal  of  On- 

gole  High  School,  150. 
Love,   Horace    T.,  missionary  in 

Greece,  199. 
Lund,    Eric,    opened    mission   in 

Philippine  Islands,  180. 

MacGowan,  D.  J.,  opened  mission 
at  Ningpo,  166. 

Malcom,  Howard,  deputation  to 
the  missions  in  Asia,  44. 

Mandalay,  opening  of  mission  in, 
114. 

Manikan,  Braulio,  the  first  Fili- 
pino Baptist,  181. 

Mason.  Francis:  "The  People  and 
Productions  of  Burma,"  216 : 
translated  the  Bible  into  Sgaw 
Karen,  221. 

Mason,  Marcus  C. :  as  an  explorer, 
215 ;  opened  station  at  Tura,  125. 

Massachusetts  Baptist  Mission  So- 
ciety, formation  of,  7. 


McCormick,  H.  P.,  missionary  in 
Porto  Rico,  211. 

Meehan,  John  S.,  and  Baptist  Gen- 
eral Tract  Society,  81. 

Mennonite  Brethren,  support  by, 
of  missionaries  to  the  Telugus, 
149. 

Mexico:  opening  of  mission  in,  66, 
200;  work  of  Publication  Society 
in,  87;  first  Baptist  church  in,  90. 

Mikirs,  opening  of  work  among, 
128. 

Millionaires  in  1812,  3. 

Mito,  opening  of  work  at,  176. 

Monroe,  William  C,  missionary  in 
Hayti,  42. 

Morris,  Charles  S.,  visit  of,  to  Af- 
rica, 189. 

Moseley,  H.  R.,  missionary  in 
Cuba,  210. 

Moulmein,  missionary  convention 
at,  77. 

Moung  Ing,  faithfulness  of,  35. 

Moung  Nau,  baptism  of  "the  first 
Burman  convert,"  26. 

Murdock,  John  N.,  and  the  Congo 
mission,  184. 

Nagas,  opening  of  mission  to,  127. 

Nalgonda,  opening  of  station  at, 
148. 

National  Baptist  Missionary  Con- 
vention, the,  189. 

Nellore,  opening  of  station  at,  44. 

New  England,  commerce  of,  and 
effects  of  war  of  1812  on,  2. 

New  York  Baptist  Missionary  Con- 
vention, 89. 

New  York  Baptist  Missionary  So- 
ciety, formation  of,  8. 

New  York,  the  Baptist  Foreign 
Missionary  Society,  formation 
of,  12. 

Newell,  Samuel  and  Harriet,  sail- 
ing of,  10. 

Ningpo,  opening  of  mission  at,  166. 

Norway,  mission  in,  85, 197. 


GENERAL    INDEX 


259 


Nott,  Samuel,  sailing  of,  10. 
Nowgong  Orphan  Asylum,  found- 
ing of,  124. 

O'Halloran,  J.  R.,  missionary  in 

Cuba.  210. 
Oncken,  Jobann  G.,   baptism  of. 

42,  194. 
Ongole :  evangelistic  methods  of, 

influence   other   missions,   149; 

first  mission  house  at,  136;  great 

ingathering   at,  136;     Prayer 

Meeting  Hill  at,  135;  subdivision 

of  its  field,  147 ;  Baptist  college 

at,  150. 
Osgood,  S.  M.,  printer  of  Judson's 

Bible,  109. 
Oungpenla,  imprisonment  of  Jud- 

son  at,  33. 

Packer,  John,  and  Rangoon  Bap- 
tist College,  107. 

Parshley,  W.  B.,  professor  in  Yoko- 
hama Theological  Seminary,  176. 

Pascoe,  Cephas,  missionary  in 
Greece,  199. 

Peck,  John  M.,  appointed  mission- 
ary, 30. 

Peck,  Solomon,  deputation  to 
Burma,  77. 

Pentecost  on  the  Congo,  the,  187. 

Perrine,  S.  A.,  established  training 
school  in  Assam,  127. 

Petrick,  C.  E.,  labors  among  tea 
garden  workers,  127. 

Philadelphia  Association,  forma- 
tion of,  6. 

Philadelphia  Baptist  Missionary 
Society,  formation  of,  8.  12,  13. 

Philippine  Islands  mission,  the, 
180. 

Phillips,  E.  G. :  as  an  explorer, 
215 ;  opened  station  at  Tura. 
125. 

Philology,  contributions  of  Bap- 
tist missions  to,  218. 

Phinney,  Frank  D.,  superintend- 


ent of  Baptist  mission  press  in 
Burma,   110. 

Poate,  Thomas  P.,  missionary  in 
Japan,  175. 

Porto  Rico,  Baptist  work  in,  211. 

Post,  Albert  L.,  president  of  Amer- 
ican Baptist  Free  Mission  So- 
ciety, 92. 

Powell,  W.  D.,  missionary  in  Mex- 
ico. 208. 

Prayer  Meeting  Hill,  history  of, 
135. 

Price,  Jonathan :  arrival  in  Bur- 
ma, 31 ;  retired  from  mission,  36. 

Printing  press  in  Burma,  use  of, 
108. 

Ramapatam,  theological  semi- 
nary at,  146. 

Rangoon  Baptist  College,  found- 
ing of,  107. 

Rangoon,  capture  of,  by  the  Eng- 
lish, 33. 

Rangoon  Sgaw-Karen  mission : 
beginning  of,  105;  separation  of, 
from  the  Missionary  Union,  92, 
110. 

Revolution,  war  of  the.  results  of, 
1. 

Rhees,  Henry  H.,  missionary  in 
Japan,  175. 

Rice.  Luther :  sailing  of,  10 ;  bap- 
tism of,  11  ;  return  of,  to  Amer- 
ica, 11 ;  appointed  missionary  of 
the  Baptist  Convention.  17. 

Richards,  Henry,  missionary  at 
Banza  Manteke,  187. 

Roberts,  I.  J.:  withdrawal  of, 
from  the  General  Convention, 
58  ;  missionary  career  of,  59. 

Roberts.  \V.  H.,  reduced  Chin  lan- 
guage to  writing,  219. 

Rohrer,  J.  Q.  A.,  loss  of,  6-5. 

Rome  :  opening  of  mission  in,  62 ; 
chapel  in,  63. 

Rose,  A.  T. :  head  of  Burman  theo- 
logical  school,  107  ;  separation 


200 


GENERAL    INDEX 


of,  from  the  Missionary  Union, 

110. 
Rostan,  J.   c,  deputation  to 

France.  42.  192. 
Russia,  Baptist  work  in,  198. 

Sadiya,  first  station  in  Assam,  123. 

Saillens,  Reuben,  withdrew  from 
Me  All  mission,  192. 

Sakellarios,  Demetrios  Z.,  mis- 
sionary in  Greece,  200. 

Salem  Bible  Translation  and  For- 
eign Missionary  Society,  forma- 
tion of,  8. 

Sandoway  :  resort  for  persecuted 
Karen  Christians,  75  ;  reopening 
of  mission  work  at,  115. 

Sandy  Creek  Association,  forma- 
tion of,  6. 

Saratoga,  Bible  conference  of,  1S83. 
51. 

Savannah  Baptist  Society  for  For- 
eign Missions,  formation  of,  12 

Science,  contributions  of  Baptist 
missions  to,  216. 

Scott,  J.  H.,  supported  by  the 
Woman's  Society  of  California. 
98. 

Sears,  Barnas,  baptism  of  Oncken 
and  others,  42,  191. 

Self-support,  beginning  in  Bas- 
sein  mission,  76. 

Serampore  mission,  India:  cor- 
respondence of,  with  America, 
6  :  aid  of,  to  the  Judsons,  21,  23. 

Shanghai,  station  of  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention,  61,  162. 

Shans,  mission  to  the,  45. 

Sharp,  Daniel,  and  formation  of 
Home  Mission  Society,  89. 

Shuck,  J.  Lewis:  joined  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention,  58, 
153  :  baptized  the  first  convert 
in  China,  100. 

Siam :  opening  of  mission  in,  42 
152 ;  mission  to  Chinese  in,  155  ; 
mission  to  Karens  in,  155. 


Sierra  Leone,  Baptist  mission  in, 
02. 

Simmons,  E.  Z.,  missionary  at  Can- 
ton, 101. 

Sims,  A. :  first  to  reach  Stanley 
Pool,  216;  made  dictionary  of 
Kiteke  and  Kiyansi,  219;  visit 
of,  to  America,  180. 

Slavery,  division  of  Baptists  on 
the  subject  of,  53. 

Sloan.  VV.  H.,  missionary  in  Bur- 
ma and  Mexico,  207. 

Smith,  Samuel  F.,  author  of  "The 
Lone  Star,"  1:54. 

Smith,  S.  J.,  mission  printer  in 
Siam,  154. 

Sociology,  services  of  Baptist  mis- 
sions to,  227. 

Southern  Baptist  Convention: 
formation  of,  56;  first  Mission 
Board  to  hold  property  in  inte- 
rior of  China,  101 ;  opened  mis- 
sion in  Japan,  178 ;  mission  of,  in 
Mexico,  206. 

Stadling,  Jonas,  missionary  of  the 
American  Baptist  Publication 
Society,  84. 

Staughton,  William  :  elected  cor- 
responding secretary  of  Mis- 
sionary Society,  17:  resignation 
of,  31. 

Stevens,  Edward  A.,  founded  the 
Burman  theological  school,  107. 

Stevens,  Edward  O.,  visit  of,  to 
Siam,  157. 

Stow,  Baron,  and  Baptist  General 
Tract  Society,  81. 

Suichaufu,  opening  of  mission  at, 
168. 

Sutton,  Amos:  married  Mrs. 
James  Colman,  28.  133;  address 
by,  on  Telugus,  44,  133. 

Swatow,  opening  of  mission  at.  163. 

Sweden,  Baptist  mission  in,  195. 

Taiping  rebellion,  relation  of,  to 
Baptist  missions,  59. 


GENERAL    INDEX 


261 


Talaings  in  Siam,  mission  to  the,    | 
157. 

Taylor,  George  B.,  superintendent 
of  Baptist  missions  in  Italy,  201. 

Tea  garden  laborers,  mission  to, 
126. 

Teague,  Colin,  appointed  mission- 
ary, 10 

Telugu  Baptist  Publication  So- 
ciety, 86. 

Telugu  converts  from  out-castes, 
HI. 

Telugu  mission :  discussions  re- 
garding abandonment  of,  133 ; 
education  in  the,  150. 

Telugus,  mission  to,  43,  132. 

Tenasserim,  ceded  to  English,  36. 

"  The  Lone  Star,"  44, 132,  134. 

"The  Morning  Star,"  109. 

'•  The  Religious  Herald,"  109. 

"The  Triennial  Convention,"  17. 

Thomas,  Jacob,  death  of,  123. 

Thomson,  R.  A.,  opened  mission 
in  Liu  Chiu  Islands,  178. 

Tura,  mission  at,  125. 

Turkey,  Baptist  mission  in,  85 

Upcraft.  William,  opened  mission 
in  Western  China,  168. 

Van  Meter,  Henry  L.,  missionary 
at  Bassein,  76. 

Van  Meter,  W.  C,  missionary  in 
Rome,  Italy,  85. 

Vinton,  Justus  H. :  "  The  man 
who  saved  our  lives,"  105:  sep- 
aration from  the  Missionary 
Union,  110. 

Virginia.  Baptist  Missionary  So- 
ciety of,  formation  of,  12. 

Wade.    Jonathan,    arrival  of,    in 

Burma,  32. 
Waldo,  Miss  S.  E.,  missionary  in 

Greece,  200. 
Walker,  Wareham,  editor  of  "  The 

American  Baptist,"  92 


Waring,  C.  M.,  missionary  to  Li- 
beria, 40. 

Warner,  George,  opened  mission 
in  West  China,  168. 

Warren  Association,  formation  of. 
6. 

Warren,  Jonah  G.,  reply  of,  to  Ly- 
man Jewett,  135. 

Webster,  David,  only  Baptist  mis- 
sionary resident  in  North  Siam, 
156. 

Welch,  James  E.,  appointed  mis- 
sionary, 30. 

Wheelock,  E.  W. :  arrival  of,  in 
Burma,  25  ;  death  of,  26. 

Westrup.  John  O. :  murder  of,  66  ; 
missionary  of  the  Southern  Bap- 
tist Convention,  207. 

Westrup,  T.  M.,  missionary  in 
Mexico,  66,  90,  206. 

Wiberg,  Andreas,  appointed  by 
American  Baptist  Publication 
Society,  84,  195. 

Willard,  Erastus,  missionary  to 
France,  42,  192. 

Williams.  John,  correspondence 
with  William  Carey,  6. 

Willmarth,  Isaac,  missionary  to 
France,  42,  191. 

Women's  Baptist  Missionary  Soci- 
ety :  the  first,  8:  formation  of,  96. 

Woman's  Bible  Society  of  Phila- 
delphia, accepted  Mr.  A.  J.  Diaz 
as  missionary,  67. 

Woman's  Home  Mission  Societies, 
formation  of,  100. 

Woman's  Missionary  Union,  for- 
mation of,  99. 

Wood,  George,  agent  of  Baptist 
General  Tract  Society,  81. 

Yates,  Matthew  T.,  missionary  in 

China,  61,  162. 
Yokohama,  formation  of  Baptist 

church  at,  175. 
Yoruba:    opening  of   mission  in, 

62  ;  re-opening  of  mission  in,  62. 


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